The modern dentist has come a long way when it comes to changes in oral health and hygiene throughout human history. The concern with human health has always been an effect of the human proclivity for tinkering and repair.
With the many specializations possible within medical science,
it is only natural that the health of the mouth should be a specific focus. The tools and techniques of the dentist have come from simple handheld tools; however, their form has in one sense stayed simple, yet in another sense, has resulted in a variety of forms, giving the modern dentistry professional a wide range of tools from which to choose.
Medicine is a natural extension of human technology. At some point, humans began to use basic tools to clean and perform surgery on the human body. One of the most important areas of the human body is the mouth. Oral health and hygiene is a huge factor in the overall health of the body. Also, mouth pain tends to be worse than many other types of pain; therefore, it was inevitable that people would begin to use tools in their mouths to clean, repair, and even remove teeth.
It is likely that these tools started off as bone, wood, and possibly stone. However, metals are the material of choice for the modern dentist. The practice of melting and shaping metal into tools was an important transition in the material history of dentistry.
A dentist’s tool set consists of many pencil shaped tools with a particular shape on the end. Scraping tools, brushes, mirrors, suction tubes, and drills are all used by the dentist to achieve mastery over the mouth.
The mouth presents a unique problem in that teeth are made hard through the process of calcification, but at their center, they are made of living tissue. Therefore, a dentist has to take this into account when selecting the right tool for the right situation. Drills are used to bore through the outer shell of the tooth, but then great care must be taken, because each tooth has a nerve inside of it. A common procedure, the root canal, actually involves the removal of the nerve from the inside of the tooth.
Dentists recommend using preventative measures for care of the teeth at home on a daily basis. Regular brushing and flossing can keep teeth healthy so that regular visits to the dentist can be for routine cleaning instead of invasive procedures.
In the event of dental surgery, one has anesthesia at his or her disposal to ensure that your procedure is as comfortable and pain free as possible. Dental procedures can still be painful, but a quality dentistry professional will make patients as comfortable as possible.
In conclusion, the art and science of dentistry is a branch of technology that has developed over time to improve the health of the human mouth. Without the human ability to use tools and, consequently, to make better tools with other tools, the modern dentistry professional would not have the ability to care for your mouth with the level that he or she does.
