Families bring the best joy, and a sense of contentment, especially when everyone is healthy. However, every family is complicated, and you can not have a solution that suits your family at once. Your parents may need to visit their general practitioner for their routine check-up. While your kids need to see the pediatrician, ensuring everyone makes their appointment can be hectic.
You do not have to worry about your family's oral health when you can have a family dentist attend to them. When it comes to family dentistry, every member of your family will be treated by one dentist. This is efficient as you can simultaneously take your entire family to the dentist. You will visit the same dental office within the same day, which can be advantageous, especially if your kids are afraid of dental visits. The Whittier Dentist is a family dental care proud to be associated with your family.
Since not all dentists deal in family dentistry, our family dentists are trained and qualified to handle children. Therefore, when you engage our services, we are well-equipped to address your entire family's oral health issues at each stage of their lives.
Understanding Family Dentistry
Regular dental care is crucial to all people, no matter their age. In most cases, you must visit your dentist at least twice a year. Generally, family dentistry involves evaluating, diagnosing, treating, and preventing oral conditions and diseases. When you visit a dental care provider who specializes in family dentistry, they will ensure to cover every dental need that your family might have, from teeth cleanings to preventive care.
A dentist specializing in family dentistry is trained to handle patients with diverse needs, from your children's dental care to the elderly. A family dentist will prioritize your children's unique needs and work hard to ensure the child is calm during the visit. Most children are afraid of dental visits, and when the family dentist takes their time to combat the anxiety and make the visit as children-friendly as possible, they will help your child relax. Although a family dentist is not a pediatric dentist, they still have the training to provide your children with necessary and excellent care. Additionally, when your child realizes that you are taking dental treatment, it will help them be receptive to dental care.
Since family dentists offer a wide range of services to people of different ages, you can choose one to take care of your children and even your parents. When one doctor takes care of a person from infancy to adulthood and even in their elderly stage, they manage to keep a thorough record of their dental history. This will save you and your family time as the dentist has detailed descriptions, and they know your entire family's dental conditions.
Ensuring your kid visits a family dentist at a tender age is crucial for oral health. A family dentist will help your child have good tooth care patterns from a young age to adulthood. A family dentist understands the changes occurring in your child's life at every stage, and they will provide a gentle approach to their dental care.
Difference Between Family Dentistry And Other Types Of Dentistry
The main difference between family dentistry and other types of dentistry is that a family dentist specializes in the needs and care of the entire family. While you can visit a regular dentist for a specific condition, a family dentist provides stability to your children. Your children can see a dentist who will provide care at every stage of their lives without having to visit different dentists for various treatments.
A family dentist will assist your child in learning how to properly take care of their teeth and straighten their smiles through orthodontics to teeth extraction. You and your family can build rapport with a family dentist throughout the treatment. This is essential in helping build healthy habits, which will go a long way to ensure you maintain excellent oral health.
Benefits Of Having A Family Dentist
If you are wondering if engaging the services of a family doctor for you, your parents and even your children are the way to go; you should consider the following benefits:
A Dentist To Cater To Everyone
Finding different dentists to cater to your family’s different dental needs can be complicated. Working with various dental practices will also be hectic when making and keeping appointments for various family members. Additionally, you will have to ensure all the billings are filled correctly. With a family dentist, it is like a one-stop shop where all your family’s needs are addressed.
You, Will, Enjoy The Services of A Dentist Who Your Children Trust
You will realize that most children are scared when they think of going to the dentist. You will lead your children by example when you visit your family dentist. They will know nothing to fear as you have visited the same. You can also schedule to have the same treatment as your children, like a dental cleaning.
Detect Early Any Change in Your Dental Health
Gum diseases can affect anybody, even your children, as most oral health problems affect your mouth's soft tissues. When you or your family visits a family dentist, your dentist will check for signs indicating gum diseases like gum recession, bleeding, and redness. They will recommend the appropriate treatment if they are indications of gum diseases. Some of the treatment options that your dentist will suggest are:
- Medications like antibiotics.
- Teeth cleaning
- Minor oral surgery.
Teach You How To Improve Your Dental Hygiene
A family dentist will help your family maintain oral health by ensuring you avoid serious oral health issues. They will teach you how to improve your dental health by showing you how to brush and floss properly. When you take your kids or their routine check-up, remember to ask any questions about oral health, like how to brush all surfaces of their teeth without harming their gums. Your dentist can show your kids which brush to use and how to floss if they wear braces.
You, Will, Have Easy Access to Your Entire Family's Dental Records
When you have a family dentist take care of your entire family's dental needs, it will be easy to access any records as the family's records will be in one place.
Proper and Excellent Care for The Entire Family
A family doctor undertakes extra training that ensures they are in a position to cater to all patients despite their age. They will know how to handle the elderly, adults, and children. Children can start visiting a family dentist as early as possible, mainly at the age of three years. These kids must visit the dentist regularly for examinations and routine teeth cleaning as they grow older. Routine check-ups will help in identifying any health issues before they become severe. A family dentist is equipped to handle oral health issues as they crop up, making it easy to manage them.
Your Family Members Will Develop A Relationship Based On Trust With A Family Dentist
One hindrance to dental health is most people's fear of visiting a dentist. When a person starts visiting the same dentist from a young age, they will develop a relationship with the dentist based on trust. Trust will help them to overcome their anxiety and fear. Also, when they visit family dentistry, the dentist will reassure them and prepare them for their next visit.
A family dentist will help you and your family feel at ease and comfortable during your treatments.
Receive Excellent Preventive Oral Care
Ideally, when you visit a dentist, they will identify any oral health issue you may have as soon as possible. Identifying any oral health issue helps prevent any major problems from developing. This means that when you or your loved ones visit a family dentist, the dentist will diagnose any early symptoms that indicate cavity formation or gum disease. The dentist will help address the issue, which will help prevent cavity formation and even tooth loss.
A family dentist will conduct comprehensive examinations, which they use to ensure they prevent any major oral health issues from developing. For instance, when your kids have their teeth cleaned twice a year, it helps remove plaque, which could significantly contribute to gum disease and tooth decay. Also, a family dentist will know when your child grinds their teeth at night, which could result in an imperfect bite.
Family Dentistry Services
When you hire a family dentist to care for you and your family, they will perform a combination of services offered by a pediatric and adult dentist. Sometimes you may find a family dentist specializing in a specific field, but most family dentists usually stick to general dentistry. Some of the services they offer include and are not limited to:
Regular Teeth Cleaning and Exams
When you visit your family dentist twice per year, they will perform teeth cleaning and conduct a thorough examination of your mouth. The use of these two procedures is to ensure your oral health is at its peak. It is during these visits that a dentist can detect if there is any oral condition developing and come up with ways to prevent and treat the condition. Following your dentist's advice and practicing healthy oral habits like regularly brushing after meals and flossing is vital.
Cavity Fillings
Cavities and tooth decay are among children's most common health issues. Therefore, when your child visits a family dentist, they will evaluate, identify and treat these conditions before they lead to tooth loss and gum diseases. Your dentist can treat cavities or dental decay by having dental fillings, commonly known as cavity fillings, which are used mainly to correct or fill in minor cavities in the mouth.
When you visit your dentist to have a cavity filled, the first thing that they will do is to numb the place by applying local anesthesia. Then they will remove a portion of your tooth. The last step is for your dentist to fill the cavity with filling material.
Purposes of tooth fillings
Tooth filling has several purposes that include:
- Repairing chipped, worn-down, or broken teeth.
- Closing any spaces between your teeth where bacteria can thrive results in tooth decay and gum diseases.
Types of cavities
Tooth decay results from dental caries or carious lesions. These incipient lesions are usually microcavities and affect enamel only. If your family dentist identifies them early, they can care for them without opting for cavity filling. However, when these cavities are more extensive, your dentist restores them with a cavity filling. A cavity starts with the formation of lesions on your tooth’s enamel, where they create chalky white spots. These chalky white spots then turn black or brown over time. When you have these black or brown spots on your teeth, it is a clear indication of cavity formation.
There are several types of cavities. They include:
Class I
This type of cavity occurs in the fissures or pits of your teeth, gaining the name “pit-and-fissure lesions.” They usually develop in the biting area of your teeth and the grooves of your molars.
Class II
These types of cavities develop in the spaces between your back teeth.
Class III
These types of cavities occur between your front or anterior teeth. With this type of cavity, they do not develop on the biting surface of your teeth. Front teeth include your canines and incisors.
Class V
This cavity usually forms on the gum line of your back and front teeth. The most common cause of this type of cavity is plaque build-up on the gum line.
Class VI
This cavity occurs at the cusp of both premolars and molars of your teeth. It can also occur on the biting edges of your front teeth.
Fluoride Treatment
Fluoride treatment involves the use of fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral that is found in soil and rocks. Fluoride can also be found in water, plants, and air. Fluoride is essential in preventing tooth decay and, in essence, helps combat cavities. Your family dentist will use them mostly on your children if they are prone to cavities. Your dentist will recommend a small intake of fluoride which will strengthen the enamel. You can also ensure that you reap the benefits of fluoride by drinking water and using mouth rinses and toothpaste that contains fluoride. After fluoride ingestion, your body will absorb it via the digestive system, mainly collecting in the teeth and bones.
Fluoride treatment is especially essential in your young ones as their teeth's enamels are naturally thin, which makes them prone to tooth decay and cavity formation. Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay in kids by increasing their teeth' resistance to demineralization.
Sedation Dentistry
Most family dentists will perform sedation dentistry before a dental procedure when they realize that you or your loved one are anxious. This process involves administering drugs to sedate you, and the dentist can administer the drug through inhalation, orally, or via intravenous injection. If you have dental phobia, you do not have to worry as your family dentist can administer the sedatives to help you. You can also benefit from sedation dentistry if you are afraid of needles(belonephobia) or if you have suffered from dental trauma before.
If you or your loved one is afraid of visiting the dentist, it can result in missed appointments. Neglecting dental appointments and treatments can increase the risk of cavity and gum disease development. Since regular visits to the dentist reduce the chances of developing oral health issues, failing to make your appointment could be detrimental to your oral health.
Restorative Dentistry
A family dentist offers restorative dentistry services where they focus, care for, and replace any missing or damaged teeth. Your dentist will remove or repair cavities and, at the same time, offer treatment options for any oral health problem that you might have. When it comes to restorative dentistry, your family dentist will incorporate other treatment options like periodontics, endodontics, and prosthodontics. You will realize that sometimes your treatment options include other dental fields to achieve your desired result.
Restorative dentistry aims to restore and save your teeth to their natural-looking state, feel, and shape. A family dentist is ideal for restorative dentistry as it is done on all patients regardless of their life stage. Kids, teens, young adults, adults, and the elderly will benefit from the restorative services of your dentist.
A family dentist can repair damaged teeth by:
- Bonding or dental filling treatment procedures.
- Use direct or indirect restorative measures like crowns, inlays, onlays, and fillings.
- Using artificial restoration like dentures, bridges, or implants to replace missing or completely damaged teeth.
Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic dentistry is a branch of dentistry that is for esthetic purposes. This type of dentistry aims to improve a patient's self-image and smile. When you have that bright smile, and your self-image is on point, you will be better positioned to face your day. You will not suffer from self-esteem issues, and you will be able to face your day with the confidence that accompanies a beautiful smile.
Cosmetic dentistry includes treatment options like teeth whitening and dental veneers. These procedures mainly benefit adults aged between 31 to 50 years. In most cases, cosmetic dentistry helps with colored, chipped, missing, and misshapen teeth.
You can talk with your dentist if you are not content with your smile. Your smile might be off due to teeth discoloration, gaps, and crowding. Your dentist may use teeth whitening to ensure you have your desired smile or go for dental veneers.
Orthodontic Assessment
Orthodontic treatment helps in straightening your smile, which will improve your self-confidence. Most family dentists offer the services; if not, they can always refer you to someone they trust to do a perfect job. To straighten your smile, the dentist will use Invisalign to help deal with crowded teeth, overbites, abnormal spacing, crossbites, and underbites.
Gum Disease Treatments
One advantage of a family dentist is that they attend to all members of your family. They will treat gum disease, which is prevalent in adults. Your dentist will use gum flap surgery, deep cleanings, and antibiotics when treating gum diseases or gingivitis. Also, they can use periodontal therapy to help treat gum diseases. To diagnose you with gum disease or gingivitis, your family dentist will run an exam to check whether your gum is swollen, colored, bleeding, or if there is any gum recession in your mouth. Some of the signs and symptoms of gum disease are usually accompanied by extreme pain and sensitivity.
A family dentist may opt to use planing and scaling to clean your teeth and eliminate plaque. Once your dentist deals with plaque buildup, your gum can be reattached to the teeth, and the healing process will commence. Also, they can use tooth fillings to address the issue of tooth decay and to treat cavities. You can choose to have your dentist use a tooth-filling material that will not compromise the brightness of your smile.
Contact a Whittier Family Dentistry Near Me
Ensuring that your entire family has convenience without compromising on the quality of dental care should be among your priorities. At The Whittier Dentist, we do not only look at the present state of your family's dental health. Instead, we take care of every stage of development where your family members are. We know that different stages in the lives of your loved ones come with different challenges. Our primary focus is ensuring your family members develop good dental habits and create healthy relationships with them. A good patient relationship ensures we save time as the patient is not anxious when visiting us.
Introducing your children to their dentist early on is essential as it helps form a strong foundation for their oral health. They will be able to trust the dentist and will not fear or be anxious during the visit. Our dentist has the necessary experience in treating all patients regardless of age. Additionally, we will advise you and your family on good oral habits to follow at home, ensuring you have strong and healthy teeth.
You should note that choosing a family dentist will significantly impact your family's oral health. Your family can streamline their oral health care by going to the same dentist. Whether your kids are beginning to learn about good oral hygiene, or you need a dentist to care for your parents' dental needs like teeth replacement, consider hiring a family dentist as they have experience treating different patients. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call us at 562-632-1223, and we will answer them.
