This is certainly one of the biggest struggles both patients and dentists face.
First off, I think we can all agree that no one wants to lose teeth, and no one wants to experience toothache. Having a full set of natural and healthy teeth is vital to the overall health and well-being of any individual.
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So, how do we make sure we keep all our teeth and are free from any toothache? It’s simple. We take care of them. This includes not only brushing and flossing but also making sure that your teeth and gums are free from any destructive processes which may be present without causing any symptoms.
The more extensive the damage, the costlier the repair if treatments should be done using the best materials and methods available to ensure proper function and most natural appearance.
Teeth and gums, being of vital importance to our survival (intake of food), are extremely resilient and adaptive organs. They can withstand a lot of destruction before any acute symptoms like pain or swelling are felt. This means that destruction could be present for a long time without us noticing any discomfort.
Only a dentist would be able to detect such destructive processes in their early stages, repair them and guide you in maintaining your teeth and gums healthy state. This is what we call preventative and conservative dentistry and it includes things like a professional cleaning twice a year to prevent or offset any minor inflammations of the gums, as well as detecting dental decay in its early stages and placing minimally invasive fillings if necessary, which last a lot longer than more extensive ones if the decay is allowed to progress.
When destructive processes are allowed to progress, at some point the focus of the treatment will shift into more extensive means of restoring the teeth or gums. These could require the use of more sophisticated materials and more time-consuming methods in order to repair the damage. It is worthy to note that the natural tooth substance is actually irreplaceable in a sense that no material available to us can 100% mimic the behavior of a natural tooth. This is what all the advancements and innovations in the dental field pour into.
So back to the question: is it expensive to go to the dentist?
The answer is logical. It depends on what you need. The more extensive the damage, the costlier the repair if treatments should be done using the best materials and methods available to ensure proper function and most natural appearance.
How do we avoid having to spend too much at the dentist? By paying them a visit twice a year and making sure that the only type of dentistry we need is that which focuses on prevention and early intervention by the most conservative means.
