There are multiple types of dental services. Some are preventive, and some are restorative.
Preventive services are used to protect the health of your teeth and gums. Restorative procedures help restore the state of your mouth after damages have occurred.
Here are a preventive service and a restorative application that your dentist may provide.
Preventive
Preventive services are often provided during routine dental visits. The application for most preventive services, such as fluoride treatments, is quick and painless.
Fluoride Applications
Fluoride applications provide the teeth with a concentrated boost of fluoride. The substance is found in many different dietary sources, such as drinking water, fruits, and vegetables. However, the quantities in these substances are not sufficiently concentrated to provide the type of protection against decay that is offered by a professional fluoride treatment. Even the amount of fluoride in toothpaste is much less than that in a fluoride application.
During a fluoride application, the dentist applies the fluoride product to the teeth, allows it to soak in for a few moments, and then rinses it away. The residual fluoride that remains on the teeth attracts dissolved minerals from the tooth enamel back to the tooth surface and combines with them to form a new tooth material. As a result, the teeth are remineralized. Additionally, due to the acid resistance of the new tooth material, the teeth are less likely to suffer decay.
Restorative
Restorative dental services repair damage and tend to be more invasive than preventive services. One common restorative application is the dental filling.
Fillings
Dental fillings are commonly used to help restore teeth that are decayed. Decay occurs when the tooth enamel is dissolved by bacterial acid. As the minerals that make up the enamel are displaced, holes, which are called cavities, form. A cavity can grow larger if it is not promptly treated with a dental filling.
As the dentist prepares to place a filling, he or she removes the decayed portion of the tooth, leaving only healthy tooth material. Next, the dentist fills the hole in the tooth with a suitable filling.
Appropriate filling materials include gold, silver amalgam, porcelain, or composite resin. The composite resin is a mixture of plastic and glass that can be colored to match the natural hues of the teeth.
If a cavity is so large that the majority of a tooth is lost to decay, the filling may be paired with a dental cap or crown. The crown completes the restoration and fortifies the tooth structure.
For more information about preventive and restorative dental services, schedule a consultation with a dental clinic like Pembroke Pines Dental in your local area.
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9 April 2018
The average dentist takes many client appointments each day and also deals with emergency situations on a regular basis. Dental emergencies are very common because people are likely to put off having tooth pain fixed until the pain becomes unbearable. Some people have anxiety about dental visits, and others are trying to avoid the expense of dental care. In either case, the end result is often a dental emergency. I have worked as a professional dental hygienist for many years and have seen all types of dental emergencies. I hope that this blog will help people identify potential emergencies before they become too serious and will allow people to know when to get help.
