A Primer to Dentistry on General Topics

I've been deliberate about waiting to define the way I want to set this blog up in order to sample some questions over the past few months and see what topics are of interest. I find that many patients through their questions make me realize that a vast majority doesn't get regular Dental Care. That is to say, instead of visiting their dentist twice a year as recommended for good General Health, I get a feeling that they are treating symptoms as they arise which is a dangerous proposition when it comes to not only your health but especially your teeth.

Obviously there are problems with different age groups specific to their growth and development and the effects of aging on the dentition as well as habits that we pick up over a lifetime. These habits sometimes lead to over stress jaw joints known as TMJ and or breakdown of the occlusal harmony of the bite itself. At times, I find my comments to be general in nature just because of a lack of information specific to the patient and their specific problem. Like many other things in medicine, dentistry is not always a cause-and-effect, but rather a group of symptoms that can coalesce in to many syndromes and or symptoms, some causing mild pain or sensitivity and others more destructive in nature.

Also, I dictate my comments, so take heed in not being too critical of how automation sometimes misspells similar-sounding words. I usually couch my remarks around the eventual visiting your dentist or obtaining such in order to ensure that one gets the best most thorough diagnosis and treatment. The days of oil and clove and wrapping a rag around one's head are long gone, and the advances to Modern Dentistry are speeding along at the rate of sound. One of the things that has evolved has been the close proximity of medicine and Dentistry to each other. Remember it's not so far-fetched to recall that there were dentists before physicians. Keep one thing in mind as we develop our rapport. As a specialist in Orthodontics, I'm not as fully versed on all topics of general Dentistry as a professor who teaches the same, nor do I pretend to be. Let's just leave it that if I don't know a good answer to your question, I'll steer you to the person who does, without fail. Dentistry is not cheap, so you want to protect your investment and for those who need help financially, feel free to contact your local dental society and request where Public Service clinics are held at any given time throughout the year as a service to individual local communities by their dentists who practice in that location. Money should never be an obstacle to maintaining good dental health as long as you are committed to keeping regular check-ups and following professional advice.