Dentists Have All the Tools

Dentists will always tell you that maintaining good oral health starts at home, and it does. Successful brushing and flossing will keep your teeth extra healthy, that much is true, but when it comes to ensuring that they are as healthy as can possible be, sometimes you have to leave it up to the pros.

Dentistry has come a long way in the past several decades, and that means that dentists nowadays have more tools, gadgets and gizmos at their disposal than ever before. While the trusty brush, floss, fluoride and other old standbys are still as common in dental offices as ever, new technology has made both diagnosing and addressing dental issues easier than ever before.

Brushing, flossing and caring for your teeth at home is the key to oral health, but that all goes hand-in-hand with regular visits to the dentist. This is because a dentist can monitor all facets of your mouth that you aren’t able to simply because you’re not trained to know what to look for.

Technologies such as x-ray vision and other instruments used in observation have helped advance this process immensely, but no instrument is used more commonly to this day than a simple mirror. The standard dental mirror is a small, circular mirror about the size of a quarter that is attached to the end of a small, short rod. It is able to be easily moved around the mouth to give dentists a view of hard-to-see places that may need treatment.

Like the mirror, the common sickle probe is another trust instrument that remains common in dentistry. Shaped like a hook on the end of a short rod, it is able to navigate through small crevices in, around and between teeth to help determine whether they are structurally sound and to remove debris.

More newer-age tools can include electric scalers and drills that are more customizable than ever before. Many scalers are actually able to scrape unwanted material away by electronically vibrating at a frequency that is capable of breaking down the bacteria. Drills can be equally innovative, as they are typically able to be adjusted by speed, force, size and depth.

While these are the most common instruments used in dentistry, there are hundreds more that are equally simple, innovative or something in between. The advancements in technology over the years has allowed dentistry to become more specialized to the point that newer tools have been produced to suit purposes that had never had instruments designed for them in the past.

This arsenal from which dentists can choose their weapons to combat poor oral health continues to grow every day, so while brushing and flossing remains as necessary as ever, do yourself a favor and let your dentist show off his or her new toys, too.