Both those who have been treated for dental disease and those who are preparing to see a dentist say that they will not go to the dentist as a last resort, for fear of pain and for fear of the hassle.
In fact, most patients are treated too inactive compared to the benefits that visiting a dentist brings us. Oral diseases must be treated in a timely manner, and even if the tooth does not hurt, it is important to see the doctor regularly.
Toothache hurts not only the teeth
There are two main types of dental diseases: dental caries and periodontal disease, both of which are chronic diseases caused by bacteria.
Tooth decay is actually caused by some bacteria using the residual sugar in the mouth to create acid, which in turn corrodes the teeth. If left untreated, the bacteria in tooth decay will continue to destroy the teeth, multiply and produce toxins. When the bacteria and toxins enter the tooth pulp, it will develop into pulpitis and periapical inflammation, causing severe pain. Chronic inflammation is not as severe as pain, but the bacteria can destroy the alveolar bone in the apical region of the tooth, penetrate the gums, and form fistulas.
Periodontal disease is the disease around the tooth, which is surrounded by the alveolar bone and gums. Bacteria attach around the roots of the teeth and hide inside the gap between the teeth and gums, multiplying and producing toxins that irritate the gums causing redness, swelling and bleeding, and slowly eating away at the alveolar bone around the roots, and if left untreated, the alveolar bone encasing the roots will gradually be destroyed.
It should be noted that the bacteria of tooth decay and periodontal disease and the toxins produced not only destroy the teeth and periodontal tissues, but also enter the blood, which may cause damage to the heart, brain, kidney and other organs of the body, such as cardiovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, arthritis, etc.; affect pregnancy, which may cause premature birth; periodontal disease and diabetes enhance each other, which may affect blood sugar control; tooth decay and periodontal disease bacteria are also the culprits of some digestive diseases. The culprit of certain digestive diseases.
Many oral diseases are not painful
Some people say, “I don’t feel any caries, I don’t feel any periodontal disease, and my teeth don’t hurt, do I still need to see a dentist? The doctor’s answer is yes!
Tooth decay and periodontal disease are chronic diseases, which develop slowly and have very strong insidiousness, and most of the symptoms are not obvious. When the caries is in shallow to moderate depth, the patient does not feel the pain and needs the doctor to discover it. Especially for middle-aged and old people, caries is often hidden in the adjacent surface of adjacent teeth, and also in the location of roots, so it is hard to be found without probes or X-rays. Periodontal disease is more likely to be overlooked. In the early stage of periodontal disease, only the gums bleed, and in the middle stage, there is only gum recession, and only in the advanced stage of periodontal disease, there will be loose teeth, weakness of chewing, chewing pain, and even tooth loss. But by this time, there is nothing the doctor can do.
That is why we recommend regular dental visits and regular periodontal treatment. In addition to being a treatment, periodontal treatment is also a preventive tool. The doctor can check the hidden parts for caries when doing periodontal treatment, and also can prevent the parts that are prone to caries, besides, periodontal treatment has the function of teeth beauty.
It is more important to see a dentist when wearing dentures
Elderly people are wearing dentures, do they still need to see a dentist? The answer is yes!
The movable dentures hang on the real teeth, the real teeth have to bear more force, easy to overload, and the part of the dentures cover the real teeth is easier to hide the food residue, easy to suffer from dental caries and periodontal disease. We often see that some elderly people have a group of real teeth suffering from dental caries and loosening after two or three years of denture installation.
In addition, the alveolar ridge where the denture is worn will shrink again, and there will be a gap between the denture and the gum, in addition to the denture is easy to buckle, the gap is easy to hide a lot of food debris, the dentist can use a method called lining to fill this gap. Fixed dentures and dental implants also need regular checkups and maintenance so that they can last longer.
Children’s regular dental visits are designed to detect dental caries and jaw development deformities in a timely manner. Children’s teeth are at high risk of decay and should be examined at least once every six months. If any deformity of jaw development is found during the examination, orthodontic treatment can be carried out early.
Don’t mind the trouble of follow-up dental examination
With the great development of dentistry technology, painless treatment has become a reality. Modern minimally invasive treatment techniques have long made fillings, extractions and dental implants easy, and early treatment of oral diseases is often painless.
Most dental visits require follow-up visits, and treatment of some dental diseases requires several visits according to the procedure, for example, root canal treatment may require several visits, and if the root canal is calcified and blocked, the treatment will be even more difficult.
After a tooth has undergone root canal treatment, it is advisable to have a crown made again, which can serve to protect the tooth to reduce the risk of fracture, which also takes time. Dentures need to be custom made and go through procedures such as taking impressions, bite records, trial teeth, wearing the teeth, and after wearing the dentures, they have to be repaired from time to time, which all take time.
Also some systemic diseases may restrict some oral treatment items, especially dental procedures like tooth extraction, such as having blood disorders and being on oral anticoagulant medication, which may result in not easily stopping bleeding after tooth extraction. Poorly controlled blood glucose in diabetes may cause slow healing and infection of the extraction wound, and dental treatment during pregnancy also requires caution.
If you or a family member has a systemic disease, is taking certain medications, is pregnant, or is planning to become pregnant, you need to be proactive and tell your dentist who can help determine if oral treatment is possible or design an alternative treatment plan.