Proper dental hygiene can go a long way to keeping smiles healthy and beautiful. Naturally, brushing and flossing regularly can prevent cavities, but there are some instances where only a dentist’s expertise can solve one’s oral dilemma. Dentists aren’t just for cavities anymore: here are three services dentists offer that can help relieve pain, brighten smiles, and make lead to proper dental hygiene.
Cosmetic Dentistry
Professional teeth whitening offers significant advantages over the strips available at drug stores that promise to whiten your teeth. A number of those over-the-counter products have limited success, as whitening toothpastes and rinses do little and the strips only whiten the front six teeth. Professional teeth whitening at the dentist’s office on the other hand is more controlled and can guarantee a whiter teeth that last longer. The popularity of cosmetic dentistry is growing as the number of teeth whitening procedures have increased by 300% in the U.S. over the past five years.
Tooth Repair
A number of dentists specialize in tooth restoration through crowns, bridges, fillings, and veneers. It is estimated that as many as 15 million people across the nation have crown and bridge replacements for missing teeth. Approximately 10% of dentists in the nation perform dental implant procedure which place an artificial tooth root in the jaw to hold a replacement tooth or a bridge. Up to 3 million people in America have dental implants; there are approximately 500,000 people who receive dental implants every year now as the number continues to grow. Of course, nearly every dentist offers fillings to halt and repair cavities as well.
Dentures
Nearly a third of seniors over the age of 75 have no remaining natural teeth; even more surprising is the fact that one out of 25 adults between the ages of 20 and 64 likewise have no remaining teeth. There are two types of dentures: partial dentures that fill in the gaps where teeth are lost and full dentures for those with no remaining teeth. Dentures must be custom-fit to the patient’s mouth. In some cases, individuals opt to have their remaining natural teeth pulled for dentures; these immediate dentures are cast and fitted prior to the pulling of teeth yet require regular adjusting over the weeks that follow as the gum heals.
