Have you ever wondered exactly what it takes to be a dentist? Well, first of all, it takes a lot of schooling and dedication to become an oral health care professional. More importantly, though, anyone interested in entering the field of dentistry must have a genuine passion for medicine and helping people. It takes a special kind of person to put their hands in peoples’ mouths for a living.
Dentistry is the branch of medicine dealing with the maintenance of healthy teeth, gums, and oral tissues. That means a dentist is looking at far more than your teeth when he or she has you open your mouth. A dentist can tell a lot about your health based on what your tongue looks like. For instance, let’s say that your tongue is covered with a filmy coating. These doctors learn in the study of dentistry that this is an indication that you are harboring a lot of bacteria on the surface of your tongue. This could, in turn, promote the breeding of some bacterial infection. The solution to this problem is to remember to brush or scrape your tongue whenever you brush and floss. Special tools are sold at most drugstores – such as a tongue scraper. Using one of these can remove bacteria and keep you from getting sick.
Dentists offering check-ups are always looking for strange lesions under the tongue and on gum tissue. These spots can look inflamed or dark, and they can be an indication of oral cancer. You definitely have a significantly higher risk of developing cancerous lesions in the mouth if you are a smoker. Mouth cancer is not a pretty site. Anyone in the field of dentistry will tell you to quit smoking immediately. Doing so can save you from having serious health problems later in life.
Last but not least, professionals in the field of dentistry are trained to look for signs of gingivitis. This is a periodontal disease characterized by inflammation of the gums. If not treated promptly, gingivitis can lead to tooth loss. Luckily, this disease is 100% preventable. Those that maintain good oral hygiene can usually avoid having to deal with problems like gingivitis.
So you see, dentists are noble professionals that you will want to visit on a regular basis. With just two simple check-ups a year, these men and women can help you maintain a certain quality of life and avoid serious oral health problems. Don’t forget to take proper care of this part of your body. Brush and floss regularly.
