From going to the dentist to brushing your teeth to flossing (which more than one fifth of the population says that they do at least once every single day, if not even more frequently than that), there are many aspects to keeping your dental health in good shape, not just for the present but for many years to come as well. A trip to the dentist should ideally occur around twice throughout the year, or at least once if going in to visit the dentist is not possible more frequently.
Proper oral hygiene and care habit should be started young as well, really as soon as your baby develops the beginnings of their baby teeth. These baby teeth can simply be wiped down with a wet washcloth and typically no further care will be needed. Once your child gets a little bit older, introducing a toddler sized toothbrush and toddler safe toothpaste can help to more thoroughly introduce the concept of dental care and overall dental health. Typically, however, it is recommended that toothpaste with fluoride in it is not used until the child reaches at least the age of two, if not even past that.
However, dental problems are still quite commonplace here in the United States, with nearly half of all children having had at least one cavity by the time that they reach kindergarten age – and some children have even had far more than just the one cavity and might even have had to deal with more severe dental concerns. Cavities are also incredibly frequent among the adult population as well, and about one fifth of the adult population has at least one untreated cavity, a cavity that is only likely to continue to worsen the longer that is goes without treatment and care.
In many cases, however, dental problems arise not necessarily from poor dental health or disease but from injury. Such is often the case with the broken tooth, though a broken tooth can also be caused when the teeth are unhealthy and weaker than they should ideally be. But a broken tooth can occur in any number of accidents as well, and the typical dentist is likely to already have seen many a broken tooth over his or her career.
And the broken tooth is quite commonplace among children as well as adults, as many children will suffer a broken tooth from physical and active play or because of participating in a sport. Once a broken tooth has occurred, visiting an emergency dentist is likely ideal, as the emergency dentist in question can make sure that no further – and more serious – damage has been sustained. If a broken tooth is the only damage that can be noted, a dentist might allow a pediatric patient to carry on without any further reconstructive work (aside from the removal of the broken tooth in question, of course, should it be severely broken and not just chipped). This can be attributed to the fact that children only have baby teeth, which will still be replaced by a full set of adult teeth.
When an adult tooth becomes a broken tooth, however, dental implants (or just one single dental implant for the broken tooth in question, as the case may be) can replace the broken tooth on a permanent basis. And while dental implants are likely to be considerably more expensive than dentures, they will also be longer lasting and easier to care for. And dental implants have become hugely popular all throughout the United States, with three million people all throughout the country currently having implants. And this number is only increasing by as much as half of a million people for each and every year that passes us by.
At the end of the day, a broken tooth or some other type of dental problem is not the end of the world, as credible and skilled dentists all throughout the country will likely be able to treat this concern with relative ease. However, it’s important to take steps to rectify these problems quickly.
