Prevention is by far the best way to care for your oral health! The truth that all dentists know, is that it is easy to prevent dental diseases. Regular examination, and cleaning of your teeth and gums, will help keep the dentist away.
Our Preventative Services include regular examination of the health of your teeth, gums, TMJ, Occlusion (bite), Alignment, Aesthetics and Soft Tissue Health, as well as the removal of plaque, calculus and stains (Scale and Cleaning).
Your dentist will also discuss dietary advice, products used for home oral hygiene and simple tips and tricks to help you maintain a healthy smile.
The most common dental problem in children and adults alike, is dental decay. Dental decay is thankfully entirely preventable, and well managed with modern general dentistry.
Teeth can heal or 'remineralise', the reverse of the decay process. In fact, if detected very early, your dentist can avoid 'fillings' and reverse the decay process.
The key to preventing Dental Decay (or Dental Caries) is creating a mouth environment which encourages remineralisation by having the right diet, good hydration, the use of the right products such as Tooth Mousse, and good oral hygiene.
The most common place for decay to start is in the grooves and fissures in our teeth. These deep grooves can trap sticky bits of food, plaque and debris - making it very easy for decay to start.
A dental sealant, literally seals the grooves and fissures, making a tooth "teflon coated" and preventing a decay from starting. It is a much simpler, quicker and less expensive than a filling treatment.
If you are diagnosed to have a larger tooth decay which has progressed into a cavity, your dentist may recommend a restoration, or a 'filling'.
These days, thanks to the modern materials, fillings match the shade of the tooth exactly, restoring your teeth using 'white fillings' to keep your smile appearing natural.
If you ever suffer from a tooth ache, a root canal treatment or Endodontic treatment is what saves you, and your tooth.
Thanks to root canal treatment, a tooth which has unfortunately become painful, or infected, can still be saved. Root Canal Treatment is essentially the cleaning, shaping and filling of the inside of a tooth, so that it becomes pain and infection-free.
Completed carefully, it is one of the most highly successful modes of treatment in dentistry today.
If the teeth are analogous to the bricks and mortar of a house, the gums are the foundations, and are called the 'Periodontal' tissues.
It is crucial to have firm, healthy gums because if we have poor foundations - everything collapses.
Periodontitis is the inflammation of the gums and periodontal tissues, and leads to receding gums, bleeding gums and if severe, loose teeth. It is usually a non-painful condition, and sadly there are members of the public who think it's a part of 'old age', and simply accept the loss of teeth with age.
Thankfully it is preventable, and is treatable.
Treatment of Periodontitis requires a complete disinfection of the mouth and gums with careful tooth-by-tooth cleaning, and a very meticulous home oral hygiene care. Your Richmond Dentist will examine your gums and teeth at every visit, to ensure that this is prevented and treated.
