Essential Dental Services
Photo by Caroline LM
Originally Posted On: Essential Dental Services (wixsite.com)
Many states are opening up allowing dental offices to open and many services dentists provide are essential to your health and personal hygiene. The most excellent dental offices will cater to covid guidelines and provide their patients with the safest amount of care during the pandemic.
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Pre-screening patients (taking temperatures, health surveys, etc.)
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Prohibiting employee from working if they are sick
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Requiring masks and gloves to be worn by all employees at all times
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Disinfecting services between patients
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Limiting the number of appoints
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Staggering patient appointments to avoid crowded waiting areas
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Scheduling longer appointments (to avoid patient interaction)
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Scheduling time between patient visits
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Securing test reports for patients and staff (when available)
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Taking staff and patient temperatures upon entering the practice
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Volume evacuators and isolation strategies
What are Essential Dental Services?
The American Dental Association (ADA) lists the following services as essential:
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Controlling severe bleeding
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Addressing mouth swelling and pain
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Treating tooth and jaw pain
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Post-surgery treatment
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Address cracked or broken teeth
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Cosmetic Dental Issues
And even though cosmetic dentistry isn’t essential it can be extremely important to your life, your smile, and well being. An excellent cosmetic dentist will be able to handle emergency dental work and also cater to cosmetic dentistry needs like teeth whitening.
Cavity: To Fill or Not to Fill
A cavity needs to be filled when tooth enamel is weakened or destroyed. This causes a small hole in the tooth. People with cavities generally don’t notice them, but they should be treated as soon as possible. A cavity is permanent and needs to be filled quickly to avoid further decay. We do not recommend waiting for more than a few weeks to fill a cavity. Cavities can occur anywhere on a tooth. Filling a cavity between teeth is common and an affordable dentists office will be able to provide guidelines for flossing and cleaning after your cavity is filled. Filling a cavity between teeth should be taken care of as soon as possible. Filling a wisdom tooth cavity usually takes only a few minutes and is a very common procedure but it is always best to go to one of the best restorative dentists. After numbing the mouth, the dentist will fill the cavity by first removing decay from the tooth. After that, a bonded filling will be placed on the tooth.
Failing to treat a cavity can result in the following dental problems:
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Changes in your bite
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Tooth loss
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Bad breath
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Decay in nearby teeth
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Difficulty chewing
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Movement of nearby teeth
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Speech problems
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Bone loss
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Altered facial features
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Other cosmetic dental deficiencies
Dental Emergencies
A dental emergency involves an injury, infection, or other ailment that requires immediate Dental emergencies can be caused by accidents, illnesses, sports injuries, biting into hard foods, and neglecting your dental hygiene. These are a few of the most common dental emergencies include
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Dental cavity
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Abscess
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Toothache
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Loss of a permanent tooth
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Any kind of jaw or mouth trauma
The essential dental services help you avoid a dental emergency. Even when you take excellent care of your teeth, there is always the possibility of having a dental emergency. We recommend keeping your dentist’s information in your wallet and stored in the notes section of your phone. Promptly treating dental issues will decrease the likelihood of additional dental procedures. Also learn more by reading more dental blogs and publications on how you can better your dental care.
Dental Checkups
Dental checkups, regular cleaning, and fluoride treatments and even cosmetic dentistry can help you avoid dental emergencies. We recommend that patients schedule dental checkups and cleanings every six months. Maintaining and improving dental health starts at home (avoiding sweet, starchy foods, brushing and flossing after every meal, and following your dentist’s instructions), but regular checkups and cleanings are essential.
Often Dental Check ups cover aspects of dentistry including:
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Fluoride treatment
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Panoramic X-rays
For more information check on some of more dental publications for news and information on dentistry services, affordable dental work, family dentistry, and pediatric dentistry.