If you are dealing with some kind of tooth pain, you need to see a dentist as soon as possible. However, should you see a dentist even when you aren’t feeling tooth pain? In many cases, tooth pain means that you are experiencing a dental emergency. Fortunately, you can avoid most emergencies by regularly visiting a general dentistry practitioner. Dentistry is divided into two categories that often overlap; there is general and cosmetic dentistry. General dentistry involves anything that has to do with treating the health of your teeth. Cosmetic dentistry is the appearance of your teeth. If you want to keep your teeth healthy, you need a general practice. You should see a dentist every six months; you need to go every year at the least.
Teeth Cleanings
Teeth cleanings are probably the most common aspect of general dentistry in Bowie, MD. Your teeth will be scraped clean using some tools that will remove plaque, stains, and any other buildup on your teeth. Then they will be polished using a professional-grade toothpaste.
You can also have your teeth x-rayed by general dentists in Bowie, MD. Since most of the teeth are below the surface of the gums, keeping them in good shape involves looking below the gumline. An x-ray is the only way to do that.
General Inspections
Much of what happens to your teeth begins slowly and then gets worse. If you visit a general dentistry practice every few months, they’ll be able to spot problems before they start to grow to a point that they become emergencies. For example, the signs of a root canal can begin early with signs of infection in the gumline. If your dentist starts to see signs of infection, he or she can treat the infection before it moves to your root canal.