Today’s Patients Need More Than the Traditional Dental Clinic Experience

Bad teeth can affect our general health, so regular visits to a dentist are vital, but today, we need more from a dental clinic than fillings and extractions. The history of dentistry is long and, from the patient’s viewpoint, a predominantly painful one. More significantly, for centuries, anyone with the will and a need for an additional income, such as monks, barbers, and blacksmiths, could assume the dentist’s role, which mainly involved removing damaged and diseased teeth.

The first attempt to establish legitimacy occurred only in 1840, with the opening of the world’s first college of dental surgery in the US city of Baltimore, Maryland. However, medical students at Guy’s Hospital in London were receiving formal lectures on dentistry as early as 1799. Subsequently, the prestigious British teaching hospital also became the first to appoint a dental surgeon to its staff. Acts like these were instrumental in establishing the dentist as a healthcare professional. However, they failed to provide for the continuing professional education that would soon become necessary to keep the newly qualified dentist appraised of the many additional advances in dental technology that would inevitably follow.

The shortfalls resulting from this oversight are still apparent to some extent, even today. Now, like then, and despite numerous technological developments, the average dental clinic still offers mainly routine dental services, leaving the more specialised procedures to the specialists. In some cases, the explanation for this attitude is the high cost of acquiring advanced new equipment. In other cases, dentists might feel they don’t have the time to pursue the extra studies required. Although routine dentistry remains essential, it’s the twenty-first century, and not surprisingly, many of today’s patients tend to look for more when choosing a dental clinic. So, what does modern dentistry have to offer them?

Exploring the Services Available from a Modern Dental Clinic

Compared with a typical traditional practice, the treatment room in a well-equipped modern dental clinic looks like something from a science fiction movie. Some of this sophisticated new equipment is designed to simplify and improve the outcomes of well-established dental procedures. At the same time, other items have made it possible to perform procedures that were previously impractical. Ideally, patients should have access to the following treatment options when visiting their dentist:

- Routine Dental Services: 

 

As long as humans continue to develop teeth, the need for routine dentistry is likely to persist. Inevitably, some people will neglect their teeth, while others will manage to damage them. In each case, there will be a need for primary dental treatment, like a filling or extraction. Other routine procedures include scheduled inspections, root canal treatments, crowns, bridgework, and partial and full-mouth dentures.

That said, even some routine dental procedures have benefitted from technological advances. For example, the only way to create crowns and dentures was once to make an impression for a dental laboratory to use as a mould. Instead, a modern dentist can create a more accurate virtual mould by using an intraoral scanner to replicate the topology of the dental arch in fine detail and transmit it wirelessly to the lab.

However, that’s only a fraction of what digital dentistry can now achieve. Some dentists have learned to take the intraoral scanning process a step further by using the scanned data and CAD/CAM software to create a 3D model, which an automated milling machine can then use to fashion a restoration from a ceramic block at the chairside.

- Cosmetic Dentistry:

 

Due probably to the sparkling white smiles of Hollywood movie stars and models, people have become more conscious about the appearance of their teeth. They don’t just want healthy teeth; they also want them to look good. Unfortunately, few people are blessed with perfect teeth and even fewer manage to keep them perfect. Some experience natural anomalies like overcrowding and crooked or protruding teeth, while others show signs of wear and tear, such as cracks, gaps, and discolouration. A modern dental clinic will have ways to solve all these problems and more. The following services are generally available from a cosmetic dentist:

- Teeth Whitening: Some foods and drinks, tobacco products, trauma, poor oral hygiene, and certain medications can cause teeth to become discoloured. Teeth whitening is one of the quickest and simplest ways to restore their natural colour. The process employs a chemical called carbamide peroxide, which releases hydrogen peroxide, a powerful bleaching agent. There are several products available, including impregnated paper strips for home use. However, these DIY remedies can’t match the evenly white long-term results possible with professional treatment by a cosmetic specialist at a modern dental clinic.

- Dental Veneers: These are generally thin porcelain structures bonded to the surface of a tooth with dental cement. Their purpose is to hide cracks or discolouration and restore a healthy white appearance. Their lifespan varies but can be between 10 and 20 years, depending on their quality and how well they are cared for. However, veneers only protect the front of a tooth, so the rest remains exposed. Also, plaque can still form on veneers, so caring for the gums is essential.

- Crowns, Onlays, and Inlays: These are made from porcelain and offer more natural-looking alternatives to conventional fillings. A crown is used to replace the entire upper section of a tooth, an onlay provides a smaller cap to seal a hole in the top of a tooth, and inlays serve to fill small holes anywhere on the tooth.

 

- Implants: While often regarded as a new option, dental implants were first introduced in the ‘50s, although probably because patients thought the process might be too painful, it has taken much longer to gain popularity, and a dentist requires intensive training in the procedure. However, an implant is far preferable to a denture as it is rooted in the jaw like a natural tooth and thus prevents bone,z loss due to calcium resorption.

 

- Orthodontics: Irregular dentition, like crooked or ill-positioned teeth or a misaligned bite pattern, is a common occurrence and is preventable and treatable. Historically, an orthodontic specialist used adjustable metal braces to apply pressure on the teeth to reposition them gradually. The modern dental clinic tends to favour clear, near-invisible aligners, eliminating self-consciousness and reducing the number of appointments required.

The Intercare Dental Clinic

 

It should not be necessary to visit a different dentist if you require specialised treatment. In practice, you could receive all the above routine and specialised services and more in one place just by booking an appointment online to attend one of our multidisciplinary medical and dental centres. Why not click here to sign up with us today so you and your family can enjoy the many valuable benefits of our skilled and experienced dental practitioners and state-of-the-art dental technology?

 

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