Comprehensive Dental Care

Interesting Facts About Dentists and Dentistry

General Dentists practice dentistry.

Dentistry is defined by the American Dental Association “as the evaluation, diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment (nonsurgical, surgical or related procedures) of diseases, disorders and/or conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and/or the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body”.

DDS versus DMD     

In Dentistry, DDS and DMD mean the same thing.

DDS means Doctor of Dental Surgery, DMD means Doctor of Dental Medicine.  The degrees are the same; they have the same education. Each individual   institution can decide what their degree is called.

Dentists work on the hardest substance in the human body.

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. Everyday your dentist is wrangling with this substance trying to keep it clean and healthy. Kudos to your dentist for being a superpower!

Does your dentist know who the first dentist was? Quiz her or him!

The first guy brave enough to fix teeth was an Egyptian named Hesi Re. He lived over 5000 years ago! Hats off to this progressive guy!

Dental Implants are better today.

Oh my, your dentist would agree that dental implants today have got it over those of the past…think shells hammered into your gums. Psst…shells look so much like teeth and I bet that was pain free!

old amalgam filling

Amalgam fillings are passé.

Unless you are still doing dentistry based on what a pencil pusher says (think $ here), amalgam fillings are so yesterday. In this century,  your dentist can put in beautiful tooth colored restorations. No more mercury-laden fillings! Hooray!

Dentists and dentistry are respected.

In a 2012 Gallup poll dentists ranked 5th out of 22 in honesty and ethical standards. Only nurses, pharmacists, medical doctors and engineers (what?) scored higher than dentists.

Can you guess how long the average adult spends brushing their teeth during their lifetime?

I’ll give you a hint…it isn’t years!   Give up? Okay 38.5 days…now doesn’t that seem like a drop in the bucket. Maybe we should all try to brush for 2 minutes, twice a day! 

Has your dentist talked about “periodontal disease”?

I wouldn’t be surprised because over 3 million cases are diagnosed a year! Why? Because of poor oral health…just like bad sentence structure…it runs rampant among the over 19 years of

Your dentist says brush your teeth for two minutes.

age population. Save yourself from this nasty, expensive disease called periodontal disease, brush twice a day and floss once a day!

Is your dentist a people person?

Does he or she enjoy their chosen field? Are they passionate about your oral health? Are your office visits pain free? Does the dental team treat you like family? That’s great…chances are you have a fantastic general dentist and dental team. Stick with them. They’ll take excellent care of you. If not…well take a look around, read some reviews, drop into an office or two. You don’t need an appointment to go inside an office and get a feel for the culture. Life is too short to not enjoy your dental visits!

This article compliments of Comprehensive Dental Care in Henderson, NV.  You can call our office at (702) 919-6206.