When your dentist refers to “general” dentistry, they’re talking about the procedures that optimize your oral health by preventing oral diseases or catching them in their earliest stages. Who needs general dentistry? In short, everyone does! It all begins with regularly visiting your dentist for a cleaning and checkup – which should be done as often as they recommend (typically every 6 months). Maintaining your dental appointments is the best way to avoid the need for extensive and invasive procedures in the future. In fact, when dental diseases are caught early on, they’re often reversed completely!
Preventing Infection
Preventive dentistry – excellent oral hygiene, dentist visits, and maintaining a healthy diet – is the best way to avoid dental disease altogether.
Infections like gum disease and tooth decay are formed from harmful bacteria that can quickly spread throughout your mouth. Controlling this bacteria is impossible when using only your toothbrush and floss at home – that’s where your dentist visits come in.
Catching Dental Disease
When you maintain your regular dental appointments, your dentist is able to look for any signs of infection – even before it’s able to form. Typically, your dentist will begin your checkup by searching for these signs visually, but for those hard-to-reach places they may need to use an intraoral camera. However, even if you aren’t presenting with visible signs of infection, your oral health could still be suffering from these harmful bacteria. With such advanced technology nowadays, we have access to devices like DIAGNOdent – a fluorescent laser that detects tooth decay at its earliest stages. Similar to an intraoral camera, it’s small size and pen-shape make it easy to maneuver around the mouth and see your teeth from every angle.
The earlier you’re able to catch dental disease, the easier it is to treat. If you haven’t visited your dentist in the last 6 months, don’t wait any longer – make your appointment today!
