Everyone has a responsibility for their own health, ranging from getting enough exercise to nutrition to sleep, and this also includes the teeth. The good news is that many Americans today take their dental health seriously, for a number of reasons. For one thing, the appearance (or absence) of teeth strongly affects a person’s own appearance and thus their social prowess, and bad teeth can be source of embarrassment or even hamper a person’s social efforts such as meeting others or job interviews. What is more, bad teeth can be very painful and effect eating and speech, and it is difficult to ignore a problem in a person’s own head. For this reason and more, a family dentist may be found and visited by many clients per year, and dental work can fix or even remove afflicted teeth or help clean and maintain current ones. Dental care may even involve dental implants or dentures for those who need them. What might a patient expect at the dentist’s office? Sometimes, due to trauma to the teeth, disease, or simply old age, a person may be missing a number of teeth, and missing a number of teeth is unsightly and can make eating and speech difficult. For this reason, patients in need will visit dentists to get dentures or bridges put in to replace those missing teeth. A bridge is a whole false tooth that can replace a missing one, and it will be anchored to two real teeth on either side of the space, hence the name “bridge”. A bridge’s anchors will fit over the two flanking teeth and be shaped to fit them, and a bridge will be a permanent addition to the mouth. Meanwhile, a patient may have other operations done if their teeth are in poor health. A root canal, for example, may be done if the fleshy pulp inside a tooth is infected, but this procedure in the dentist’s office is not as painful as some may expect. The tooth is numbed, and then the dentist will remove the pulp from inside the tooth and leave it hollow to remove the infection. The tooth will remain in place, although it may be slightly more fragile and wt will no longer feet heat or cold. Meanwhile, if a tooth is heavily infected, removing it entirely may be the best route to contain the infection, and a wisdom tooth might also be extracted so that it dos not interfere with the alignment of current teeth. Crowding may result if a wisdom tooth is allowed to grow in, so dentists can remove it once the patient’s mouth is numbed.
Dentistry is well accepted in American life. In fact, dentistry stands as one of the top 10 most trusted and ethical professions in the nation, and there are many things that a dentist may do for a patient. Many millions of Americans have a regular dentist whom they visit one of twice a year, and a dentist may do anything from a routine cleaning and checkup to X-rays or more invasive procedures if need be. A number of tooth-enhancing products might be placed in the mouth, such as dentures, or implants. Implants are a popular route and are often very useful; scientific literature, for example, suggests that such implants have a success rate of 98%, and some three million Americans already have them.
Dentures, meanwhile, are similar to bridges but can replace multiple teeth in a row or even all teeth on the upper or lower jaw. What is more, some dentures, such as partial ones, can be taken out of the mouth with ease and put back in if need be. Dentures will be shaped for each patient who receives them, and they will be molded based on the patient’s existing teeth and the shape of their jaw. While dentures will feel a little different than real teeth, they can be a major relief for someone who is missing most of their teeth and allow them to eat and speak much more easily. Modern models of dentures are more comfortable and realistic than ever, and they can be an appealing option for anyone who needs them.
Other Tooth Care
