General Dental Services | Teeth Cleaning, Fillings, Crowns | General Dentists
Dentistry involves a wide range of treatments and services for the prevention and diagnosis of dental problems. General dental services is the collective term for procedures used to either diagnose possible dental problems, maintain optimal oral health, or prevent dental problems from worsening.
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), you should visit the dentist for general dentistry services and dental checkups at least once every six months. During these dental checkups, the dentists examine your teeth to ensure they’re healthy, and they look for signs of cavities and other dental problems. Going for general dental services regularly allows you to take action and treat dental problems at their earliest stage, before they get worse, which they inevitably do.
Besides dental checkups, some of the most common general dental services are teeth cleaning, fluoride treatments, dental checkups, oral cancer exams, fillings, crowns, etc. Please continue reading to learn more about general dentistry services.
What are general dentistry services?
- Dental Checkup: These are regular dental examinations and checkups used to look for signs of gum disease, cavities, and other dental problems. The dentist will use various screening methods and digital x-rays to look for the minutest of problems. All dental problems are chronic, i.e., they worsen over time, so you must treat them at the earliest stage possible. If you don’t treat dental problems early, they continue worsening and spread to other parts of your mouth.
- Oral Cancer Screening: According to the American Cancer Society, over 30,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed across the United States every year, and they lead to around 7,000 deaths per year. Most people think they can avoid oral cancer if they maintain a healthy lifestyle and don’t smoke. While that minimizes your risk of oral cancer, it doesn’t completely remove the possibility. During your oral cancer screenings, the dentist will look for precancerous lesions, lumps, and red or white patches in your mouth, all possible signs of oral cancer. If you have oral cancer, you must treat it early, or it gets increasingly difficult to treat.
- Teeth Cleaning: You may be surprised to find that teeth cleanings are some of the most important general dentistry services provided by dental professionals. No matter how well you brush and floss your teeth, you can’t remove all the tiny food particles stuck between your teeth and gums, which eventually leads to plaque, tartar, and bacterial accumulation. If you don’t go for regular teeth cleaning, the bacteria affect your teeth and lead to dental decay, cavities, or gum disease. During teeth cleanings, dental health professionals remove all the accumulated plaque with a scaler and apply fluoride varnish to protect your teeth from bacteria.
- Dental Crowns: If you don’t treat cavities and dental problems early, the dental decay may spread into your enamel and decay it so much that the dental professionals have to remove most of the dental surface. After that, you need to get dental crowns to replace the decayed tooth.
- Root Canal: If the dental decay spreads into your tooth’s pulp chamber, the dental specialist has to remove the infected pulp tissues and nerves. Following that, the dentist disinfects the tooth, seals it, and provides a dental crown to strengthen the weakened tooth. While a root canal isn’t exactly a general dental service, it may be necessary if you don’t go for regular dental checkups.
Why are professional dental cleanings important?
Professional dental cleanings are important because they protect your teeth from the accumulation of bacteria. No matter how well you brush your teeth, the tiny bits of food particles in your mouth lead to the accumulation of plaque and tartar, which, in turn, leads to bacterial accumulation. As the bacteria consume the plaque and tartar, they release foul toxins that affect your teeth and gums. No matter how well you brush, you can’t remove all the accumulated tartar and bacteria, which inevitably leads to gum disease and periodontitis. Professional dental cleanings are necessary to prevent such an eventuality, keeping your teeth healthy. It’s a crucial part of oral hygiene.
Why do I need a dental filling?
If you don’t go for regular dental checkups, you may suffer from cavities due to bacterial activities. Dental fillings are used to seal the cavities, preventing the cavity from spreading deeper into the tooth’s root canal. If you don’t get dental fillings, the cavities will continue spreading, eventually affecting the tooth’s pulp chamber, necessitating root canal therapy or tooth extraction.
Are there different types of dental fillings?
Yes, there are several types of dental fillings, including gold, silver amalgam, composite resin, and ceramic. Ideally, you should choose porcelain or composite resin dental fillings because they’re tooth-colored and merge with the surrounding teeth, without drawing attention to themselves. Gold fillings are highly visible. And silver amalgam fillings eventually oxidize, turning black.
I’ve lost a tooth. What are my options for replacing it?
If you’ve lost a tooth, you can opt for partial dentures, dental implants, or dental bridges. Partial dentures are the cheapest option, but they also look fake, and they’re inconvenient. Dental bridges look like real teeth, but they have to be supported either by dental crowns on either side or by a dental implant. The best method of replacing a lost tooth is through a dental implant, i.e., a titanium post drilled into the missing tooth’s jawbone, creating a replacement root structure for the replacement dental crown.
Consult a General Dentist Near Me
Nottingham Dental is one of the most reputable dental clinics in Katy, TX. We provide a wide range of general dental services to ensure you maintain optimal oral hygiene. For more information, please consult your general dentist near me.
