How often do I need to see a dentist?
It depends on several factors. How often do you have dental problems or caries. What is the level of your oral hygiene. what is your general medical health. If you maintain your oral hygiene well you can visit your dentist once or twice a year. However if you have experienced a decay or an emergency during last year you better visit your dentist twice a year at least so issues can be prevented and managed as soon as possible.
What is a check up?
During a dental check up the dentist ask questions. They consider your main complaint, your medical health, your dental history, your social and family history. Answering those questions is really important to establish correct diagnosis and treatment plan. Then your dentist will check your appearance, face, neck, TMJ, lymph nodes. This is an extraoral exam. The intraoral exam includes checking your lips, mucosa, teeth, saliva ducts and orifices, tongue, floor of mouth, soft and hard palate, tonsils, throat. All those area can be affected by a lesion or disease.
What is root canal treatment?
Root canal treatment(RCT) is a well established procedure. It is usually done when the nerve of your tooth is deceased beyond repair and the only other option is to remove it. RCT involves removing any pulp remnants from inside the tooth, shaping and cleaning of canals, obturating the canals and then restoring your tooth. All this is done under local anaesthetic so you do not feel anything.
What is dental prophylaxis?
Prophylaxis in a dental sense means acting before a disease has occurred. Even if we do not eat or drink bacteria attaches and flourishes on our teeth forming dental plaque(biofilm) and calculus. They are very hard to remove and professional help is needed. When teeth are clean it is easier to maintain good oral health.
What is tooth extraction?
Tooth extraction means to remove a tooth. This is usually done if the nerve is dead and tooth can not be saved or restored, if it is causing an abscess or another health complication, for restorative or orthodontic purposes. It is done under local anaesthetic.
Do I need to remove my wisdom teeth?
Wisdom teeth do not always need to be removed. In certain cases however removing them is necessary. If they cause you malaise, abscess, toothache, difficulty chewing or opening your mouth at least twice a year and you need to take antibiotics to resolve the issue they better be removed. Sometimes there is not enough space for them to grow and if they continue they can damage your neighbouring teeth the second molars either causing them caries or external resorption. Sometimes both teeth need to be removed if it is too late and they can not be saved.
How often do I need calculus removal and dental prophylaxis?
It depends. People with good oral health and no gum disease may need it once or twice a year depending on how much calculus they have. However if you had gum disease in the past, recession, open furcations or interdental spaces you would retain more dental plaque(biofilm). In this case you may need prophylaxis more often. You can discuss this with your dentist.
What is a dental crown?
Dental crown is a lab made device which serves to restore the shape, size, looks and functionality of your tooth. You usually need it if your tooth has been fractured, damaged or severely restored and leaving it unprotected will lead to further deteriorations. Making a crown involves preparing the tooth, taking several impressions, placing a temporary crown and finally fixing the permanent tooth. Crowns can be made from plastic. metal, metal ceramic, all ceramic or zirconia.
What is a veneer?
Veneers are basically crowns in a way. They can be plastic or ceramic. They are much more reduced in size than standard crowns and do not require so much tooth preparation. If you want to change your smile and bleaching does not work for you veneers are your choice of action.
WHAT is airflow?
Airflow is a controlled jet of water and air which removes plaque and stains from your teeth. It is faster, safer and leads to better results than traditional polishing. It does not remove hard tissue deposits like calculus so ultrasonic or hand scaling is needed if present.
DO I need scaling and root planning?
If you have gum disease and periodontal pockets you need Scaling nd Root Planning(SRP). It is done under local anaesthetic. Its purpose is to smooth the root surface and remove all bacteria(plaque) from it. Thus gums will be able to reattach again and heal optimally, giving you a better smile.
What is a denture and do I need it?
Denture is a lab made device which can replace some or all of your teeth if you are missing them. Is it important? Yes it is. without restoring your teeth and bite you will have difficulty speaking, eating, being social. You can start to have TMJ problems the size and shape of your face will change and you may start loosing weight and your health will worsen.
What is a dental bridge and do I need it?
Dental bridge is a combined unit of several crowns. With its help you can restore several or more of your teeth if you are missing them and your smile will be as good as new. Bridges are made from plastic, metal(not very aesthetic), metal ceramic, all ceramic or zirconia material.
What is dentin hypersensivity?
Dentin hypersensitivity is a pathological and painful response to a normal stimulus like cold, water air, fizzy drink, ice or tooth brushing. It can happen to anyone at any time. How it can be resolved: fluoride application. special desensitizer, filling, ionophoresis, laser ablation.