A Dentist for Your Changing Smile

For every stage of our lives, we require the specialized medical attention of a dentist. When we are babies we need help as our primary teeth come in and with beginning our practice of oral hygiene. It all seems so exciting when it's brand new, but if the practice isn't sustained as a priority in daily practice, oral health care will gradually worsen over the years. Twice annual dental checkups each year, every year can get the teeth back on track and help inspire some patients to work to improve their teeth in between checkups and screenings. Yet, there are still millions of men and women who only see the dentist when the deterioration and loss is irreversible so salvaging or prosthesis are the only options that remain. These stages of oral health are particularly common with adult teeth and gums and it is likely to increase in severity with age. This doesn't mean that some twenty-five year olds don't have more filled and capped teeth than solid live ones, thirty-five year olds aren't receiving multiple dental implants or that there aren't some forty-five year olds with full dentures. It just stands to reason that as oral hygiene, oral health and internal health of a patient declines, add in time, and the condition of the teeth, gums and soft tissues of the oral cavity will worsen.

Most oral infections and diseases can strike at any age. And they all have warning signs and early stages that can be squelched to prevent further loss. One of the conditions that occur early on is one or more abscess. These puss filled growths can appear below the gum line as the sign of a deeper infection that is worsening by the day. An unattended abscess can progress into a root infection. Once an infection gets that deep inside of the tooth and has infected the tooth pulp it can damage the nerve causing intense pain and eventual sensation loss is not bone loss in the jaw. A second example of an unnecessary oral health condition pertains to gum disease.

The earliest warning signs of gum disease are redness, bleeding when flossing, then when brushing, and then also when eating because they have become so sensitive. They can also ooze inflammation as well as become painful while brushing and begin to recede over the teeth. This can progress to periodontitis, which is the most advanced stage of gum disease. The above-mentioned oral infections and diseases are particularly common with older adults because inefficient hygiene practices and earlier warning signs weren't nipped in the bud. These resulting conditions can still be treated and the deterioration repaired but as any dentist would recommend...the sooner the better.