What is the most important dental routine?
The most important dental routine is brushing. You should brush your teeth at least twice a day because this will guarantee that our dental structures—namely the teeth, gums, and tongue—are clean and don't allow bacteria to create disease inside our mouths.
What is the most common dental problem?
The most common dental problem is caries, or so-called decay. Decay forms when our structures are not cleaned properly. Food debris accumulates inside our mouth, between our teeth or on top of them. Then, a structure called dental plaque forms over our teeth. This dental plaque is responsible for cavities and gingivitis, which is inflammation of the gums.
These two conditions are the most common dental problems and lead to tooth loss and periodontal conditions that ultimately also lead to tooth loss. In fact, the fewer teeth you lose, the longer you live. Keep that in mind.
What services can a dentist provide?
A dentist can provide fillings, known as restorations. After the cavity is cleaned up, we fill the space with a material that allows you to continue using your tooth without pain or holes. We also provide crowns, used when cavities are bigger and it is more difficult to maintain the tooth's integrity. After the cavity is removed, we offer cleaning services.
Cleanings are designed to remove all irritants, which include food debris, calculus, plaque, stains, and all these elements that can cause disease or worsen symptoms in our mouth.
Other services we provide include rehabilitation. Once you lose a tooth, you need to rehabilitate your mouth to ensure you can continue functioning or restore the function of all the teeth you lost. By rehabilitating, we can place dentures, replace teeth with bridges, or place implants, which resemble natural teeth. They function like teeth and look like teeth.
How long does a full dental exam take?
A full dental exam can take up to one hour because it is crucial to gather all the information we can to help the patients properly. For instance, once the patient arrives at the office, we take pictures, x-rays, and study the case. This is a very important step in the entire process of diagnosing and ultimately arriving at a treatment plan.
After the pictures and photos, we scan the mouth, take X-rays, and I, as the doctor, will review all the information, examine the patient, perform a thorough exam, and complete our cancer screening, which is a very important part of the comprehensive exam. After that, we develop a treatment plan, which will guide us to complete the entire treatment needed in this case. The process mostly takes one hour.
How often should the average person go to the dentist?
I would say the majority of patients need to visit the dentist every 6 months. However, it all depends on the conditions we diagnose them with. For instance, if a patient has conditions like periodontitis, which requires a deep cleaning, the follow-up or appointments needed to maintain oral health in these patients will be every 3 to 4 months. It all depends on your diagnosis.
What is a routine dental cleaning?
A routine dental cleaning involves the removal of irritants such as plaque, calculus, and stains above the gum line. As the word suggests, it is routine, simple, non-complicated, and doesn't last too long. It's straightforward. After we remove the irritants, we polish the teeth to ensure all surfaces are smooth, clean, and whitened, and that's all.
If you’re looking for dental care you can trust, call us at (813) 993-0503 or email [email protected]. We’re here to help you have the smile you've always wanted!