It may sound rather old hat, but dentists rely on the eyes more than anything else. To the trained eye, cavities stand out like sore thumbs. Dentists will often find cavities during a general cleaning session. This is because decay often finds a home beneath the plaque that forms in the area where a tooth enters the gum. Dentists may also observe cavities after taking x-rays of your teeth.

Once a cavity has been discovered, your dentist will examine it closely to determine how much of the tooth has been affected by this decay. If it is a small cavity with only a little decay, your dentist will drill out all of the decayed matter and fill the tooth with a suitable filling. If the cavity is large, you may require an inlay, onlay, or perhaps even a dental crown. In the worst situations where there is too much decay, the tooth may require extraction.

Dentists do their utmost to preserve teeth, so extractions are definitely the last option, not the first. It is important to see your dentist as soon as possible if you feel any pain in your teeth. Pain is often an indication of decay and the sooner your dentist removes that decay the less damage it will do, and the smaller the filling required to repair the tooth. If you want to keep your teeth and avoid fillings, brush at least twice a day and visit your dentist every six months to have that plaque professionally removed.

For many people, rather than having a problem that needs diagnosing, they have questions related to what others have told them. There are tens of millions of dental experts out in the community, unfortunately, almost all have had no training. Yet they’ll immediately advise you on what sort of treatment you should be seeking.

Dentists are used to sifting out the fiction and revealing the facts. More importantly, dentists are able to provide advice on any issue that do concern you. If you think your teeth are a little crooked – then talk to a dentist. If they are, the dentist has a range of options that are available to you – options that are not derived from old wives tales, no matter how well intentioned some of the storytellers.

When you need advice on legal matters – you see a lawyer. If you need advice on dental issues – you should see a dentist. Dentists today work with patients in a collaborative attempt to produce the best dental outcomes possible. These outcomes are based on a number of factors, not just your teeth. Your lifestyle, your disposable income (how much you can afford), the type of dental health insurance you hold, and the dental outcomes you are hoping to achieve all have a bearing on the final outcome. The path to reach that outcome is something that you and your dentist can plan together – this creates the best outcome for you, financially, emotionally and perhaps even socially.

Dental crowns are generally used:

• to restore a chipped or broken tooth
• to strengthen a tooth
• to restore the cosmetic appearance of a tooth

Badly chipped and broken teeth are the main use of dental crowns. What is important is to have enough of the tooth and its root system in place, healthy, and able to support a dental crown. If there is, then your dentist will prepare the tooth for a crown.

Preparation involves reshaping the tooth in such a way that a dental crown can be fixed permanently to the remaining tooth. A cast is made of the remaining tooth and sent to a laboratory where a custom made crown is made. This can take up to a week before it arrives back at your dentist – in the meantime, you will have a temporary crown in place to protect the prepared tooth.

Once your crown is ready, your dentist will remove the temporary crown and permanently fix the customized crown. One of the features of a customized crown is that it is made to seamlessly blend in with your current teeth. The exception to this is if you decide to have a gold dental crown made. Dentist’s only recommend customized dental crowns in situations where they are needed – often, the alternative is to remove the tooth altogether.

Dental health plays a vital role in your general health. If you have a tooth ache, for instance, you will probably modify your diet until either the pain subsides, or you get to see a dentist. For others, simple things like hot or cold foods can cause a lot of pain. If you have gum disease, then you are feeding bacteria into your body, one of the causes of some heart diseases.

On the reverse side of things, there are some general health areas that will have an impact on your teeth. Being physically sick will bring strong stomach acids into contact with the teeth. This can cause problems to the enamel allowing easy access to bacteria – the end result is badly decayed teeth. There are other health issues that can cause your teeth to become loose and eventually fall out. Some medicines can also cause problems. Most commonly, a yellowing of the teeth.

Visiting a doctor on a regular basis is important for your general health. Likewise, visiting a dentist on a regular basis is important for your dental health. If you have both under control, then you will live a happy and healthy life. Let one get away from you and it could affect your overall health and lifestyle. If you haven’t visited your dentist in the last six months, perhaps it’s time you did.

In years gone by, children often developed a fear of dentists, not through experience, but through the words and actions of their parents. Comments such as “I have to visit the dreaded dentist today” are hardly likely to invoke pleasant images of the experience. Today’s parents are much kinder when referring to the dentist with comments such as “I am going to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned and polished. My teeth will look so much better.” Those comments do conjure up at least neutral if not positive images.

If your child attends the dentist with you, then those positive images can be reinforced. Ideally, your children should have their first dental check up at about four years of age. You can take them as early as two, but there is little the dentist can do at that age apart from checking their teeth and making them feel comfortable.

A trip to the dentist is no longer the nightmare it may have been fifty years ago. With gentle background music, dental rooms painted in soothing pastels, and technology that reduces pain to its barest minimum, a trip to the dentist has become a pleasure – more so if the worst the dentist does is clean and polish your teeth. Do your children a favor the next time you visit a dentist – take them with you and schedule their first check up.

Bad breath is almost always caused by a medical situation. This could be bacteria in the form of tooth decay, bacteria growing on the tongue, or through gum disease. Bad breath can also be a side effect of breathing through your mouth – this causes the mouth and tongue to dry out, creating a stale breath. Smoking and certain foods also create bad breath.

Your dentist can deal with almost all of the bacterial problems in your mouth. Extracting decayed teeth, or removing the decay and filling those that are still strong, will help. Treating any gum disease will also help to reduce bad breath. The ball then is back in your court.

Keeping your teeth and tongue clean while also ensuring your mouth remains hydrated is important. Brushing at least twice a day, regularly rinsing your mouth – especially after food, drinks, or tobacco products – can also help. A regular routine of flossing will help to remove plaque from areas that a toothbrush can’t reach – important when you consider that plaque is a leading cause of bad breath.

Your tongue is the mouth’s biggest collector of bacteria. A regular brushing, twice a day if possible, will help to reduce the amount of bacteria growing (and yes, they do ‘grow’) on your tongue, thus significantly reducing bad breath.

You can banish bad breath, almost forever. We say almost because some foods create their own problems – that aside, you can reduce the problems significantly.

The price you pay does not always equate to the quality of service either. Just because dentist A charges more doesn’t mean they are better, more skilled, or that the treatment will be any different to dentist B who charges less. Here’s a tip – rather than using fees to base your choice of dentist on, use reputation – it’s far more reliable.

What can you do about dental fees? Acquire affordable dental insurance! When considering affordable, take into account your age, the condition of your teeth, and what dental treatment you are likely to need over the next three to five years. By linking into the right dental insurance plan now, you will be in the best position to claim the maximum allowable for any treatment while not paying for treatments that are not required.

A good example is someone who has good dental hygiene habits and sound teeth. A dental plan that includes good cover for full dentures would be excess to their requirements. However, they may need to have cover for crowns, implants or partial dentures to protect themselves against the costs of accidents. Others may think this excess and prepared to wear the costs themselves while paying lower premiums now.

Dental fees are no different to other costs in society. There are a range of factors that go into determining the fee. Your best protection is affordable dental insurance – then it hardly matters how much the dentist charges.

Dentists do have a vested interest in this argument, but it’s not as altruistic and some may think. There are several medical and social reasons in favor of filling a child’s primary teeth. On the medical side, if decay is found then removing that decay is obviously in the best interests of the tooth, even it will fall out at around 11 or 12. Decay can lead to further problems if not treated, including severe pain.

On the social side, children are exposed to the more serious side of dentistry. Drills and needles are no fun, but then neither is pulling a badly decayed tooth out. The social side of dentistry is problematic and really does depend on the approach taken by dentists. If they are gentle and treat the child as an individual then the end result is often very positive. This makes continued dental treatment into adult life much easier – it is hard to work with a patient who is terrified of your every move.

Just as importantly, children with white, clean teeth will smile more and generally happier. Children with decay will often hide their teeth, and their smile, and become more withdrawn. Add pain to the picture and they become miserable as well.

Dentists generally take the minimalist approach; that is, we do as little as possible when it comes to children’s teeth – but that doesn’t mean doing nothing at all. Should children’s primary teeth be filled? It depends on the circumstances since every child is different.

Those parents that sit in the latter category often leave it until school age before having their child’s teeth checked. Those in the first category are often anxious to have their child start the process as early as possible. Is there a right age? There certainly is!

As a rule of thumb, your child should have their first dental visit on or before their first birthday. In fact, it is one area where the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Dental Association and the Academy of General Dentistry all agree. Dental problems start from a young age so if your dentist can identify any problems and intervene early, they could be saving you a lot of time, money and frustrations down the track. Just think teens and braces – need I say more?

To prepare your child for the first visit, take them along when making the appointment. Talk to the dentist and find out what your child can expect. You can then start practicing a little and talking to them about what is going to happen. Often, the first session is only an icebreaker with the dentist having a short cursory look in the child’s mouth, more to get them accustomed to the process more than anything. The reward may well be a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush.

A follow up second visit is then used to explore a little more thoroughly. This visit should take no more than 15-30 minutes and should be scheduled for as early in the day as possible – certainly when the child is wide awake, not after lunch when the child is tiring and starting to feel irritable.

When should your child first visit a dentist – first birthday, first dental visit? Just be nice, not on their birthday.

A century ago, 90% of senior citizens had no teeth. Here’s a little trivia for you – back then, it was quite normal for people to give false teeth as a present, and for those in their thirties to have all their teeth removed. Why? To avoid the pain associated with decay. False teeth 100 years ago were not of the same quality as today. Far from it, they were often ill-fitting and made life worse rather better.

Now, as you go through life, regular cleaning, at home and at the dentist; early identification of decay along with long lasting fillings; dental crowns, bridges, onlays, overlays and even implants come together to make life much easier, especially for our seniors. Many of them still have a head full of their own teeth. Where dentures are used, they are now often partial rather than the full set.

Where dentistry has really taken a turn is in it’s outlook. Caring for your teeth is important, but we are equally concerned with the cosmetic side of dentistry. We don’t just want to you to keep your teeth, we want you to keep that brilliant smile that comes with clean, white natural teeth. If you are about your teeth, then regular dental visits are a must – then we can work together to maintain your dental health – after all, it’s your quality of life that gets the real benefit.