Most oral health problems are preventable. The key is to move away from the belief that you should only see your dentist when you feel dental discomfort, like pain and swelling.
In addition to you practicing proper oral hygiene, such as brushing twice daily and flossing once a day, your dentist can do a lot to help you maintain your healthy smile. Paying regular visits to your dentist will ensure that your mouth is free from issues resulting in permanent tooth loss and other major dental problems requiring surgeries. Preventative services like teeth cleaning in Fort Lauderdale will help keep plaque buildup and tooth decay at bay. Restorative services, on the other hand, can be provided to help you get your beautiful smile back.
Here are professional dental services that are worth investing in to ensure a constant gorgeous smile.
Preventative dental services
When you see your dentist, you will be evaluated and provided with a tailored dental care plan. This plan often includes dietary advice, fluoride treatments, oral hygiene instructions, and cleaning. Depending on your dental care habits, preventative services might be required quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. The better your commitment to oral care, the less frequently you will need to see your dentist.
Teeth cleaning
Proper brushing and flossing are essential to ensure good oral health, but it is not enough to get your teeth squeaky-clean. Over time, plaque and hard deposits can build up on your teeth, and when these are not removed, they can make your mouth a good place for bacteria to multiply. When the acids produced by these germs are left uncontrolled, it can result in tooth decay, gum inflammation, and even systemic diseases. This is why you must have your teeth professionally cleaned regularly.
The professional teeth cleaning procedure is done using a set of special tools. Using a scaler, your dentist will then remove the plaque and hardened deposits from your tooth. A stream of liquid will be introduced to help with plaque removal and wash away all the debris. Finally, your teeth will then be polished using a rotary brush with a soft rubber tip and a toothpaste-like gel, leaving your teeth smooth and shiny.
Teeth whitening
Teeth whitening services do more than just brighten your smile; they will also protect your teeth and gums. Before the whitening process starts, your dentist will perform an oral exam to ensure that the discoloration is not caused by a more serious dental condition that requires immediate treatment.
Oral cancer screening
Though oral cancer is not as popular as any other cancer type, this does not mean that it is not a severe and fatal condition. Luckily, early detection is now possible with the oral cancer screening available today. So make sure to include this test in your regular dental checkup.
The screening process is painless because it only involves a tactile and visual exam. Your dentist will check for any significant changes in your mouth’s lining tissues, including your tongue and lips, indicating the early stages of oral cancer. A small tissue sample will be obtained when an abnormality is noted and sent to a laboratory for further testing.
Restorative Dental Services
Even with proper oral hygiene, you can suffer from tooth decay and other dental issues. Luckily, there are professional dental services that will help restore the health of your mouth.
Dental fillings
Almost everyone can suffer from cavities – and its treatment is a dental filling. As its name implies, this treatment will seal a small hole in your teeth to prevent the decay from worsening.
Today, there are different materials used for filling, but the process remains the same. A clinical exam will first be done to check for the extent of the decay. Using a handheld instrument, the dentist will remove the decayed part and etch the remaining structure using an acidic solution before the cement is applied to bond the filling material and the tooth together.
Tooth bonding
Bonding uses tooth-colored materials to hide unappealing minor tooth defects like discoloration and chips or to replace missing tooth structure.
The process starts with cleaning the tooth to be bonded. The surface will then be etched using an acidic gel. Once the gel is rinsed off, a thin layer of liquid composite resin is applied over the affected area, filling the tiny pores. The bonding material will then be hardened using a special curing light. Once the necessary thickness is achieved, the bonding material is shaped to get the perfect bit before it is polished.
Tooth extraction
Tooth preservation is the primary goal of dentistry, but there are times when tooth extraction is deemed necessary. Perhaps your tooth has been damaged by decay or trauma, or your wisdom tooth is impacted.
How straightforward the extraction is will depend on the location of the tooth to be removed and the condition of its root. For instance, removing a front tooth with one straight root is easier than a molar with multiple roots. It gets even more challenging if the molar is an impacted wisdom tooth.
But extraction is nothing to be feared if it is performed by an experienced hand, especially when done by experts in wisdom teeth removal in Fort Lauderdale and around the world. Your teeth are not firmly attached to its surrounding bone, as most people think. Instead, a network of fibers connects your teeth to the bone. By manipulating the tooth expertly, this periodontal ligament will be detached, and the affected tooth can be removed without causing any serious trouble.
The tooth extraction process starts with numbing the affected tooth and its surrounding bone and gum tissues with local anesthesia. Your dentist will then carefully extract the tooth, ensuring that no damage will be caused to its surrounding area. To help preserve the bone volume, a small amount of lab-processed bone-grafting material may be attached to the socket. This is crucial if you consider getting a dental implant soon, as this requires to fuse to the bone.
Once the tooth is removed, sterile gauze is used to cover the socket, and you may be advised to bite on it to control bleeding. In some cases, as with wisdom tooth removal, small sutures may be required. You may feel mild to moderate swelling and discomfort, but everything should go back to normal after several days.
There are a lot of things your dentist can do to ensure that your teeth and gums are problem-free. Scheduling a regular dental visit is essential as this allows your dentist to clean your teeth and gums professionally and examine your oral cavity for any problem, including oral cancer.
