Dentistry Advancements Fight Age Old Problems

Dentistry and Orthodontics — By Shopping Blogs on December 10, 2009 10:09 pm

Since its beginning, dentistry has always been about the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the diseases of the gums, teeth and jaws. Repairing defective, diseased or infected teeth has been a necessary part of every known culture and civilization. Even thousands of years ago, people cared about the looks and health of their teeth. Luckily, due to medical advances, today dentistry no longer involves archaic or unsafe methods of practice.

As far back as Mesopotamia and Egyptian times, dentistry was practiced by medicine men or physicians. They often extracted teeth which caused pain or discomfort. They used rudimentary tools to do this without any anesthesia. Most people did not keep their teeth for very long and an infected tooth could actually cause death. Ironically, it was never any severe tooth condition responsible for any real problems. More often than not, tooth decay was and still is the main culprit of tooth pain and problems. Back then, tooth decay was actually believed to be the result of a worm.

Modern dentistry as we know it came to be around the 1700s. More was understood as to the root cause of many dental issues. Extracting teeth was done in a more professional setting and advances were discovered as to how to properly clean teeth. Cavities were also dealt with by this time. They often filled them with soft metals instead of resorting to extraction. In the 1800s using anesthetics and drills became common practice, as did reclining chairs like we know now. Even though dentistry was still practiced by everyone from your local barber to doctor, it was becoming more of a practice on its own. It was becoming more understood how we all can prevent or delay tooth decay based on how we care for our teeth.

Now modern dentistry is seen as a science on its own. Today dentistry mostly involves the actual prevention of problems, rather than being the solver of tooth problems someone has let go until very little can be fixed. No longer can your physician treat tooth decay. Much like other areas of medicine, you must attend years of college and post graduate study, complete with internships and a residency.

When you regularly visit a nowadays, you are practicing a form of maintenance. An entire team, including dental assistants and hygienists will educate you on how to protect your teeth as they give you twice yearly check ups. Simply dentistry cleaning techniques and proper care of teeth now give us the chance to keep our natural teeth throughout our lives unlike our ancestors.

Some new advances which take dental care to a whole new level are laser technologies. These have helped phase out the old fashioned drill of dentistry . Chemicals to actually dissolve decay rather than break it apart are also in the works. Cosmetic dental practices are also becoming commonplace. This field sees your teeth not just as tools for eating, but also a part of your whole being and self confidence. Keeping a healthy smile also helps you stay healthy overall. Even as the population grows older, gerontology is available and geared toward helping the elderly maintain their teeth. These new fields and advances over the last few hundred years will only serve to keep dentistry evolving more.

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Tags: Dentistry and Orthodontics