Dentistry: It's More Than Drilling and Filling

Family dentists care for people of all ages, from infants to the elderly. They typically have a wide range of experience with various types of patients and oral health issues. A family dentist can provide different services, including preventive dental care such as cleanings and exams, restorative treatment such as braces, fillings, and crowns, and surgical procedures such as extractions and root canals.

Here are the four leading roles of a family dentist in society:

Providing Preventive Care

A family dentist who practices preventive care helps patients stay healthy by spotting problems before they develop into serious issues, such as infections or tooth decay. This type of dentist may spend more time listening to patients, discussing their diets and dental hygiene practices, and making sure they know how to properly care for their teeth.

In other words, they play an essential role in teaching people about dental hygiene and how to care for their teeth. This oral education includes demonstrating proper brushing and flossing. It's also the dentist's responsibility to educate people on what foods to eat and which ones should be avoided if they're going to maintain healthy teeth.

Routine Check-Ups and Screening

A family dentist plays an active role in performing routine screenings for oral cancer and other diseases affecting people's teeth. Since early detection of these conditions brings better chances of recovery, dentists need to provide screening exams regularly. These screenings are also beneficial to people with diabetes or hypertension because they are at a higher risk of a wide range of oral conditions, such as cavities, gum inflammation, and tooth decay.

Guidance

A family dentist offers guidance to people who want to make improvements in their smiles. Whether they will undergo teeth whitening procedures or have other work done to their teeth, the guidance of a family dentist is needed first. For example, a dentist can tell a patient if they are suitable for certain kinds of cosmetic dental work, and whether it's worth it to have such procedures done.

Other Tasks

Family dentists also perform other tasks that help people stay healthy, including providing both routine and cosmetic dental services, such as bonding, teeth whitening, and dental veneers. They can also provide services such as tooth extraction, root canal therapy, and oral surgery. More significantly, a family dentist can perform endodontic treatments, root canal therapy, and dental implants.

The Bottom Line

Family dentists take care of your entire family's teeth, from toddlers to parents and grandparents. The roles in society include providing holistic oral health care, which is preventive, restorative, and cosmetic in nature.