Dental care traditionally has been associated with a lot of anxiety, fictional concerns or mistaken notions. Many of these in fact are far removed from scientific evidence, best practices or advisable course of action. We have tried to provide a balanced point of view on some of these are in below, so you can make informed decisions about your oral health.
“All Dentists s are the same”
This is not really true. Think of it this way… you need specialized doctors for specialized problems. For normal and regular dental procedures such as cleanings, fillings, simple crowns etc., a regular, licensed dentist should probably suffice. But some dentists have specialized themselves by way of advanced training or special interests in specific areas of dentistry, such as cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, sleep apnea appliances and in such cases you are better off in the hands of expert practitioners.
“If it isn’t troubling you, do not trouble it”
This is really being negligent to potential long term problems. In real life untreated cracks in the teeth, old silver fillings, fractured teeth, plaque deposits, infected gums etc., are all harbingers of potential painful and expensive situations and are also capable of compromising your long term health.
In some cases patient may have a perception of pain during the treatment that was not present before. This is only a transitory phase and soon passes away. These situations would have arisen even if the tooth was left untreated with far more serious consequences and in the hands of a competent dentists these are very transitory.
“Bad teeth are hereditary”
In reality only a small number of problems in dentistry are hereditary. It is possible that one’s elder generations suffered from gum disease or other tooth decay problems, due to less accessibility of treatment or some other reasons.
“If the tooth is bad, just get rid of it”
Every time you remove a tooth, many things effect your long term dental health and surrounding teeth. The teeth move, causing stress on surrounding teeth, impairing chewing, put ting stress on the jaw joint, accelerating bone decay, and causing gum disease.