| Myths and Misunderstanding about Dentistry |
Dental problems are among the most ancient and wide spread diseases affecting mankind. However, most of us, even the highly educated have certain preconceived notions about our teeth, dental diseases and their treatment which, more often than not, are quite distant from the fact.
The misconceptions quite often lead to complications of the disease causing increased difficulty in management of the condition., We here, aim to take up one by one each of the common misconceptions the public has and discuss it briefly in a simple manner in order to clear the misunderstandings regarding these myths once and for all.
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MYTH NO: 1
MILK TEETH / BABY TEETH ARE TEMPORARY TEETH & CAVITIES IN THEM NEED NOT BE TREATED?! |
FACT:
Cavities in milk teeth like those in adult teeth, can affect the tooth nerve and gums causing severe pain and swelling in that region.
Removal of milk teeth much before they are ready to fall on their own can cause either a prolonged delay of eruption or malpositioned or even a non erupted permanent tooth.
It is these teeth that are responsible to guide the permanent teeth correctly to the appropriate positions at the appropriate time. Therefore cavities in the milk teeth have to be filled as soon as they appear.
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MYTH NO: 2
CLEANING OF TEETH BY THE DENTIST LEADS TO A LOSS OF ENAMEL LEADING TO SENSITIVITY OF TEETH IN FUTURE?! |
FACT:
Cleaning of teeth by a dentist is done using a very blunt instrument which vibrates at high speed to loosen only the dirt which has collected around the tooth. This instrument in no way removes or scratches the enamel of the tooth. Yes, the teeth may become a little loose and sensitive immediately after cleaning but this is temporary and usually becomes normal in a weeks time.
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MYTH NO: 3
FILLING CAVITIES IN TEETH WILL LEAD TO SEVERE PAIN AT A LATER STAGE?! |
FACT:
Cavities in teeth if not filled at an early stage will lead to infection in the nerve of the teeth, leading to tooth pain. So cavities should be filled as soon as possible, i.e, before the tooth starts paining. If toot is filled after the tooth pain has started then there will be severe pain later.
How to know that a cavity has started?
a) Black color of certain areas of teeth
b) Food collecting in a particular area for a prolonged period.
c) Tooth becoming sensitive to hot / cold food.
d) Pain while chewing certain foods.
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MYTH NO: 4
TEETH CANNOT BE SAVED ONCE IT STARTS PAINING?! |
FACT:
Teeth pain starts when the nerve in the tooth is infected. Even at this stage the tooth can be saved by a procedure called Root Canal Treatment (R.C.T). In this treatment the infected nerve is removed from the root canals of the tooth and for two / three visits the canals are cleaned and all infection is removed.
After the pain and infection is gone the tooth is filled completely up to the end of the root. So this way the tooth is dead but can be used normally and need not be removed. The tooth can thus stay in the patients mouth for life.
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MYTH NO: 5
EXTRACTION OF UPPER TEETH WILL LEAD TO LOSS OF VISION AND PROBLEMS IN THE BRAIN?! |
FACT:
There is no relation at all between extraction of any tooth upper or lower and vision & brain problems. If this were true, patients who have had all their teeth removed should be totally blind and mentally retarded!!
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MYTH NO: 6
TOOTH EXTRACTED NEED NOT BE ARTIFICIALLY REPLACED?! |
FACT:
A tooth however badly decayed should be tried to be saved. In spite of all efforts if a tooth has to be removed it must be replaced as soon as possible. If this is not done then gradually the teeth adjacent to the gap will start tilting towards this gap leading to food collection, cavities and difficulty in chewing in this region. The opposing tooth also grows down causing similar problems in the opposite arch teeth also. Therefore a lost tooth must be replaced within a maximum of 6 months not only for aesthetic purposes but also to prevent disease conditions in adjacent and opposing teeth and gums.
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MYTH NO: 7
BRACES FOR CORRECTING MALPOSITIONED TEETH CAN BE PUT FOR CHILDREN ONLY?! |
FACT:
Although the ideal age for putting braces to correct tooth positions is 12-14 years, people of all ages up to 45 years too, can gain significantly by using braces. Adult treatment may take a slightly longer time and may not be ideally finished but certainly the gross problem can be corrected provided the gums are sufficiently healthy.
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MYTH NO: 8
TEETH ARE NOT INTENDED TO LAST A LIFETIME. i.e. WHATEVER WE DO / HOW MUCH EVER CARE WE TAKE , LOSS OF TEETH AFTER A CERTAIN AGE IS INEVITABLE?! |
FACT:
Proper oral hygiene measures and regular checkup with your dentist involving early correction of any decay or infection, can enable you to retain healthy set of fully functional teeth through out your life.
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MYTH NO: 9
DENTAL CARIES AND RELATED PROBLEMS ARE HEREDITARY AND SO NO AMOUNT OF CARE AND TREATMENT CAN ENABLE ONE WHOSE PARENTS HAVE A BAD SET OF TEETH TO RETAIN A GOOD DENTITION?! |
FACT:
Human dentition does have some hereditary features but they are limited to factors like tooth size, jaw size, position of teeth and likewise. Tooth decay and gum infection though indirectly related to the above factors are more caused by local factors. i.e. factors around the teeth and gums, like accumulation of plaque, tartar, sticky foods like chocolate, liquids like colas, etc. These factors when accompanied by lack of adequate oral hygiene, compounds the severity of dental problems. So even people who have a family history of dental diseases can maintain a good dentition by good oral hygiene measures. Likewise people who have a family with good dentition can still have a poor dental health if they are not careful about maintaining good oral hygiene measures and regular dental check-ups.
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MYTH NO: 10
DENTAL TREATMENT IS EXTREMELY PAINFUL?! |
FACT:
Though once true, modern advances like the High Speed Water spray cooled Diamond drills, the extremely effective local anesthetic agents and other space age materials have significantly reduced the discomfort experienced by the patient during and after dental treatment.
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MYTH NO: 11
DENTAL TREATMENT IS EXPENSIVE?! |
FACT:
It is true that complicated dental treatment is expensive, and that is one of the reasons why we advocate routine check-ups which enable us to detect problems at an early stage and even prevent problems from developing. Treatment charge for such routine check-ups and correction of minor initial problems are minimal compared to the cost of management of advanced disease conditions. Take for example, charges for replacement of a tooth is more than treating an infected tooth with Root Canal Theraphy which in turn is more expensive than filling a decayed tooth with silver amalgam before the infection has set in and so on.
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