The Modern Approach To Dental Care
Since your dental health is a vital part of your overall wellbeing, it is important to see your dentist regularly to avoid or treat cavities. Cavities can result in tooth loss, pain, and exacerbate problems in other parts of your body. There are several procedures that can be done to prevent or treat cavities to prevent these problems, and possibly a new treatment on the horizon.
Prevention and Nutrition
Dentists aren't just interested in getting to lecture mode when they ask about your nutrition and diet. What you eat, and what you don't include in your diet, are very important factors in your dental health. Your teeth do possess some healing powers if you get in some proper nutrition and avoid sugary, starchy foods.
Sugar and simple starches are bad for your teeth and the rest of you for two very important reasons. The first reason is one you may have heard about forever: that sugary foods encourage bacteria to grow in your mouth, and the acids that they produce cause cavities.
What you may not realize is that when you consume sugar and junk foods with little or no nutrition, not only is your body not getting the vital minerals and vitamins it needs, but it is also using its nutrient stores to digest the junk foods. So they are not only not helping, they are also contributing to the deficits your body has. This means your teeth will suffer along with everything else.
Remineralization
During your regular checkups, your dentist will be alert to white spots on tooth enamel or suspicious areas on an X-ray. To prevent the decay from developing into a cavity, a remineralization process can be used.
To initiate this, your dentist will apply a calcium paste or fluoride varnish on the spot and during following visits, he/she will monitor the tooth and possibly re-treat it if necessary. This will allow time for your body to work towards healing the area, and you will avoid needing a filling.
Fillings and Crowns
Fillings are still being done by modern dentists, when your tooth decay has reached the point that makes them necessary. In this process, the area where work will be done is numbed, and the decayed portion of the tooth enamel is drilled out. The resulting hole will be filled with gold, silver alloy, a composite resin or porcelain.
If the upper portion of your tooth is badly decayed, it may be removed, and a crown will be needed. A crown is attached to the remaining part of the tooth, and these are shaped to resemble the teeth they replace, so they function well and look good. They can be made from porcelain fused with metal, gold, or solely porcelain.
Treatments In the Near Future
There are dentists in the U.K. that are pioneering a new treatment called "Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralization," or EAER, which speeds up the natural process of remineralization in a damaged tooth. The dentists prepare the damaged area first and then use "a tiny electrical current to push minerals [calcium and phosphates] into the repair site."
Reminders
To keep your teeth healthy, have regular dental checkups at a place like Couchman Center for Complete Dentistry so that your dentist can spot problems early and thus use milder forms of treatment. Eat a well-balanced diet free of sugar-laden junk foods, and consider supplementation to replenish vitamins and minerals. Of course, be diligent about brushing and flossing.