THE CARE BEHIND A HEALTHY SMILE
Preventive Dentistry
- Patti Valentyne
5.0
Our dentists working together to achieve one goal – your perfect smile
Preventive dentistry is the practice of caring for one’s teeth to keep them healthy. This helps to avoid cavities, gum diseases, enamel wear and more.
Ways and means to ensure dental health :
- Brush daily to keep the teeth clean and strong.
- Brush teeth daily with flouridated toothpaste.
- Replace the toothbrush three to four times a year or as the bristles start to fray.
- Daily flossing is also recommended. Flossing helps to clean the tight spaces between the teeth.
- Eat a balanced diet. It helps to protect the teeth by providing them with the nutrients they need.
Pit and Fissure Sealant
Fluoride, even though it prevents decay by strengthening the enamel, cannot prevent decay on the chewing surface of the molar teeth by the same mechanism. Hence a specially available cement called ‘pit and fissure sealants’ can be used to cover and seal those risky, deep chewing surfaces of molars. This will prevent entrapment of food particles in them and thereby prevent tooth decay. These ‘pit and fissure sealants’ don’t need a tooth drill before its placement. It is a very simple procedure to perform and has great preventive benefit.
Sealants are a safe and painless way of protecting your teeth from decay. A sealant is a protective plastic coating, which is applied to the biting surfaces of the back teeth. The sealant forms a hard shield that keeps food and bacteria from getting into the tiny grooves in the teeth and causing decay. Sealants are only applied to the back teeth – the molars and premolars. These are the teeth that have pits and fissures on their biting surfaces. Your dentist will tell you which teeth should be sealed after they have examined them, and checked whether the fissures are deep enough for sealing to help.
Sealants are often applied as soon as the permanent teeth start to come through. This is usually between 6 to 14 years of age.
Scaling and Root Planning
The early stages of gum disease can often be reversed with proper brushing and flossing. Good oral health will help keep plaque from building up.
A professional cleaning by your dentist or hygienist is the only way to remove plaque that has built up and hardened into tartar which cannot be removed by tooth brushing.
If your condition is more severe, a root planing procedure may be performed. Root planing helps to smooth irregularities on the roots of the teeth making it more difficult for plaque to deposit there.
Fluoride therapy
Fluoride therapy is the delivery of fluoride to the teeth topically or systemically in order to prevent tooth decay (dental caries) which results in cavities. Most commonly, fluoride is applied topically to the teeth using gels, varnishes, toothpaste/dentifrices or mouth rinse.
Indications for fluoride therapy
The individual’s risk factors and the reason for treatment will determine which method of fluoride delivery is used. Fluoride therapy is commonly advised for patients with moderate to high risk for developing decay and patients undergoing Orthodontic treatment.
