Dental Checkups
Why should I see a dentist?
You need to see a dentist because you don't know what is going on in your mouth. Only a dentist can really figure out what is going on in there. It's dark in your mouth, and you can't see all the way back there, but he can see what's going on. Your dentist will take a look in your mouth. He'll also take the necessary x-rays, without which a dentist doesn't know what's going on. Indeed you have to have these x-rays to catch all the things that are going on in your mouth at thier initial stages, so you don't get into real problems at a later time.
How often should I see a dentist?
There are a number of theories as to how often you should see a dentist. The bottom line is that it varies from individual to individual because every one of us has a different situation in our mouth. If your mouth is very healthy, you may not have to see your dentist as often. If your mouth has problems, you may have to see your dentist very often in order to make sure those problems do not progress into something really serious. So how often you should see your dentist is something best decided by you and your dentist, depending upon what the situation is in your mouth.
How often should my child or teenager see a dentist?
Your young child or your teenager should see the dentist probably more often than you see the dentist. The reason for that is that more than likely, their oral hygiene or the way they maintain their mouth through brushing or flossing, is not going to be as good as we would like to see it. And, as you all know, most teenagers have the diet that is not the healthiest, loaded with sticky foods and sugar. As far as when you should begin taking your child to the dentist, probably the best age to initiate a visit to the dentist is before the age of 3, right around 2 1/2 to almost 3 years old. The reson for that is more than likely, they're not going to have any problem at all, so you want to take them to the dentist so that they can just have their teeth cleaned, get a toy and say, "Wow, that was a lot of fun." You don't want the first visit to the dentist to be one to take care of tooth decay and have a phobia for seeing the dentist the rest of their life.
How can I prepare my child for a dentist appointment?
Hopefully your child's first appointment with the dentist will just be for cleaning, and not to take care of a large cavity. Hopefully you're taking your child to the dentist when the child is not in pain. So you're going to tell them that they're going to go see the dentist. And the dentist is going to look in your mouth. Just like the doctor looks at your body, the dentist is going to look at your mouth. You're going to open your mouth real wide, so the dentist can see all of your teeth, and then the dentist is going to clean them, and the dentist may take some pictures of your mouth. And then the dentist will give you a toy, and then we come home from the dentist. It'll be a lot of fun. If, however, you have to take your child in and the child has pain for their first dentist's appointment, please try not to put your apprehension on the child. I know, as a parent myself, it's difficult when your child is in pain not to be apprehensive. Try to make it sound to your child like they're just going to the dentist to have something taken care of. Like they have a little boo-boo, and you're going to see the dentist and he's going to make it better.
How do I find a qualified dentist?
The easiest and surest way to find a qualified dentist is to call the dental society in your area. The dental society will give you the names of three or four qualified dentists that work near where you live. You'll have to tell them whether you're looking for a qualified dentist for your child, or for yourself, and they will find a dentist who is qualified to take care of either one of you, or in some cases, both of you.
What is a dental "cleaning"?
A dental cleaning usually refers to taking care of all the tartar and plaque and debris that's in your mouth, so that your teeth are clean and able to be maintained easily by you. You may have this dental cleaning by either a dentist or a dental hygienist; either are qualified to do that. They will first take a look at your mouth, see if anything is wrong with your teeth or your gums. They will check for oral cancer, and then they will scrape off the hard deposits that are on your teeth that you can't take off with your toothbrush. Then they will polish your teeth, and show you what you need to do to maintain your teeth in good health. Usually it will mean how to brush better and how to use floss.
Are dental cleanings painful?
Your dental cleaning should not be painful, if you've been good about maintaining your mouth. However, if you have problems because you have not been maintaining your mouth well, there are some areas of your mouth that may be tender when the cleaning is done. If it's going to be an excessively sensitive area, the dentist or the dental hygienist may elect to numb that area. Pain, when you have your teeth cleaned, is not a sign of a good cleaning. It's not necessary to have pain to have a good cleaning.
Why do my gums bleed during and after a dental cleaning?
If your gums bleed when you brush your teeth yourself, they're going to bleed when you have a dental cleaning. The reason that they bleed is because the gums are inflamed, because the area where the tooth meets the gum is not clean. If it's not clean, there's going to be a bacteria build-up, and the toxins that the bacteria secrete irritate the gum and cause that redness that you can see around your gums. If there is puffiness and redness, the gum is going to bleed. However, if your gums are in good condition, one of the signs of them being in good condition is that they don't bleed during a dental cleaning.
What does a dentist look for when examining my mouth?
What I look for when you come in for a dental check up is, first, to make sure that there are no lesions present in your mouth. By a lesion I mean something that would look like it could turn into cancer - not necessarily cancer, but something that looks like it could turn into cancer. That's the first thing I look at as a dentist. Next, I look around to see how clean your mouth is, how well you've been maintaining it. I look to see if there are any broken teeth, then I look for decay. If these things are present, the role of a dentist is to investigate them further.
What are dental x-rays?
Dental x-rays, which we all call x-rays, are actually radiographs. Dental x-rays are a photo of your tooth, where all of the structures of the tooth are able to be seen. A dental x-ray is really no different than an x-ray of your hand or your arm, and serves a purpose of allowing us to see what's going on inside the tooth, particularly when we're looking to see if a patient has any tooth decay, gum disease, or bone loss.
Are dental x-rays harmful to my health?
The thing that we worry about, or at least most people worry about with dental x-rays is, the exposure to radiation. Yet actually the radiation you're exposed to when you have dental x-rays, particularly when we use a lead apron to protect you, is less than you would get with half a day in the sun. The x-rays that we are able to use today for dental x-rays, the digital x-rays, cause even less exposure to radiation and are perfectly safe.
