Who is a dentist?
A dentist is a medical professional who evaluates and treats oral ailments and problems. This involves the care of teeth, gums, the structures of the head and neck, jaw, tongue, and other structures of the orofacial system. Dentists can prescribe medication and perform procedures when it comes to treatment. Some procedures they offer include dental fillings, root canals, tooth extractions, bridges, and crowns. They also provide preventive care by removing disease-causing bacteria and plaque through teeth clean-ups. Additionally, they provide fluoride treatment which helps prevent cavities. Dental procedures are usually pain-free as these doctors can administer anesthetics safely.
In terms of cosmesis, dental specialists can whiten yellowed teeth and fix misaligned teeth and jaws. Besides adults, dentists also cater to pediatric issues and oversee their management. In addition to this, these specialists also manage orofacial trauma and emergencies.
What kind of education and training do dentists receive?
Aspiring dentists must first graduate and enroll in a dental school. Studying and training in dental school takes up to four years; this helps students learn how to diagnose and treat illnesses and conditions related to oral health. The first two years in dental school involve theoretical study in classrooms and laboratories. During the following two years, students receive extensive practical training where they treat patients under the supervision of experienced dental experts. Dentists must clear a National Board Dental Examination to get their license to practice. Some states also require doctors to obtain a state-specific license to practice.
What are the specialties in dentistry?
There are various specialties that dentists can take up after finishing dental school. This requires additional education and training anywhere from two to six years, depending on the specialty chosen. These include:
- Dental public health: This takes 15 months to complete and deals with organized community efforts to prevent dental diseases.
- Endodontics: It takes 26 months to complete. It deals with treating the dental pulp, the soft core of teeth. Endodontists receive special training in root canal treatment.
- Oral and maxillofacial radiology: This involves training for 30 months. It deals with imaging techniques used for the diagnosis of oral disorders.
- Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics: This involves correcting facial and dental irregularities. Training in this specialty takes up to 30 months.
- Prosthodontics: This is a 32-month course in restoring natural teeth. It deals with replacing missing teeth or other oral structures with the help of artificial devices such as dentures.
- Periodontics: This is a 35-month course that deals with treating disorders of the gums and the bones supporting them.
- Oral and maxillofacial pathology: This takes 37 months to complete and involves diagnosing and treating oral disease histopathologically.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery: This specialty takes about 54 to 72 months to complete and deals with the surgical treatment of oral traumas and emergencies.
- Pediatric dentistry: This takes 25 months to complete and involves focusing on and treating children's oral health from ages zero to 21.
What conditions do dentists treat?
Dentists diagnose and treat various conditions, including the following:
- Cavities (dental caries): Cavities are holes in your tooth that develop from tooth decay. They form when plaque (a sticky bacteria) builds up on your teeth and slowly erodes your enamel. Symptoms of cavities include toothache, facial swelling, and bleeding gums.
- Gum (periodontal) disease: Periodontal disease refers to infection and inflammation of the tissues supporting your teeth. Reddish or purplish gums, bad breath, pain when chewing, gum recession, and bleeding gums are some early signs of this condition. Gum disease has four stages: gingivitis, mild periodontitis, moderate periodontitis, and advanced periodontitis.
- Bad breath (halitosis): Halitosis is the medical name for bad breath. Everybody occasionally has bad breath, especially after consuming foods high in garlic and onions. However, if your bad breath does not go away, you might have chronic halitosis. This condition can result both from oral conditions and diseases affecting a different part of your body (such as diabetes and Sjögren’s syndrome.
- Teeth grinding (bruxism): Bruxism is when you grind and/or clench your teeth. Grinding and/or clenching your teeth unknowingly is known as bruxism. While most people grind their teeth every now and then, if you do it a lot, you exert excessive strain on your jaws and teeth, which can cause issues like headaches, jaw pain, and dental damage. Facial pain (especially in the morning), sore jaw muscles, and tinnitus are some symptoms of bruxism.
Are dentists and orthodontists the same?
These two terms can be confusing to some people. However, dentists and orthodontists are not the same. Dentists practice general dentistry, treating common oral illnesses and conditions. On the other hand, orthodontists are specialists. They are dentists who have received additional education and training in correcting misaligned teeth and jaws. A dentist may refer the patient to an orthodontist if the situation requires a specialist's expertise.
While dentists perform general dentistry procedures mentioned earlier, orthodontists focus on treating the jawline and bite in patients. The latter uses braces and retainers or performs teeth straightening surgery if required. Orthodontists may use dental appliances such as Herbst appliances, palatal expanders, or orthodontic headgear to align the teeth and jaw.
Why is oral health important?
Oral health includes teeth, orofacial structures, and the existing state of your mouth. It helps to accomplish daily functions such as breathing, speaking, and eating. On a psychological scale, the state of your oral health directly affects your well-being and self-confidence and helps in socializing.
As a result, it is essential to maintain oral health so that one can prevent oral health illnesses such as gum disease, tooth decay, and oral cancer. Many reports and studies on oral health have tried verifying its relation to overall general health. Some of the conditions related to oral health include :
- Cardiovascular diseases: CDs, such as strokes, clogged arteries, and heart disease, might be linked to oral bacteria. However, the connection between oral and heart diseases has yet to be fully understood, but some research suggests that infections and inflammations from bacteria can be a factor.
- Endocarditis: This is the infection in the inner lining of the heart valves or chamber. Bacteria cause it, and some studies believe it spreads through the bloodstream and reaches the heart from the mouth.
- Pneumonia: This is another disease caused by bacteria entering the lungs from the mouth. It can cause other respiratory diseases as well.
- Pregnancy and birth problems: Low birth weights and premature births have been linked to periodontitis.
- Diabetes: This makes it hard for an individual to maintain oral health. It reduces the body's resistance to infection. Some studies have formed a causal link between sugar consumption and diabetes. You need to keep an eye out for an emergency dentist near you if you have diabetes, as it is hard to control blood sugar levels if you have gum disease.
Oral health varies from individual to individual throughout life, from early years to old age. Some of the common risk factors for poor oral health include unhealthy diets high in sugar, alcohol, and tobacco products. You must regularly brush your teeth, floss, and use mouthwash to maintain oral hygiene. You should also avoid or limit sugary food and drinks and maintain a healthy diet. Bacteria feed on these sugars to multiply, which leads to tooth decay, gum disease, and various other infections that can cause oral cancer.
When should you visit a dentist?
Visiting a dentist every six months is advisable for preventive treatment such as cleanings and exams. Moreover, you can also see a dentist near you if you have symptoms such as teeth sensitivity, toothache, chipped or broken teeth, jaw pain, and abscessed teeth. Dentists also treat ulcerations, discolorations, swellings, or any other abnormality in the mouth. Their roles also entail performing biopsies or diagnostic tests to detect oral infectious or chronic diseases. This also includes screening exams for detecting oral cancer.
Headaches, swollen or bleeding gums, persistent bad breath, and lumps or sores in the mouth are also reasons to visit a dentist. Dentists can sometimes detect illnesses in other body parts because the symptoms are often first visible in the mouth. This helps in the early diagnosis and treatment of such diseases, thus preventing issues from worsening or avoiding hospitalization in the long run. Hence, you should visit an emergency dentist near you if you experience pain, swelling, and other problems in the mouth.
What to expect at your first dental visit?
Since regular dental care is important for maintaining your oral and overall health, it can be helpful to know what to expect from your dental appointment.
- Your first appointment: step by step - When you arrive, a Patient Coordinator will welcome you, check you in, and inform the dental team of your arrival. They will verify your insurance and guide you through any necessary new patient paperwork if applicable. Once your paperwork is complete, a team member will look over your medical history and discuss any issues you may have. A dental assistant will then take digital X-rays for the dentist to evaluate. Digital X-rays emit minimal radiation compared to traditional X-rays. If you have any questions about this process, feel free to ask your dentist or dental assistant.
- Comprehensive dental examination - As a new patient, your visit will include a thorough dental exam. Your dentist will review your medical history, address any concerns you may have, and may check your blood pressure to ensure your overall well-being. If you feel anxious about the visit, let us know—we prioritize your comfort and aim to make your experience as stress-free as possible. During the exam, the dentist will assess your digital X-rays and screen for oral cancer. This involves examining your jaw, neck, tongue, and the inside of your mouth. This screening is recommended annually as a preventive measure. The initial examination typically lasts about an hour and allows the dentist to detect potential issues such as cavities or gum disease. Based on the results, they will offer a personalized treatment plan and discuss your options with you. If specialized care is required, our office has dental specialists on staff, eliminating the need for outside referrals.
- Will you receive a cleaning on your first visit? - A dental cleaning may or may not be performed during your initial visit. The dentist will first evaluate whether a dental cleaning is the appropriate next step based on your oral health status. In some cases, certain dental conditions may require treatment before a routine cleaning can be performed. Once your oral health is stabilized, future visits will typically include both an exam and a cleaning in the same appointment.
How to find a good dentist near you in Frederick, Maryland?
Your dentist is a primary dental care provider who helps ensure your teeth and gums remain healthy. Be sure to maintain good oral hygiene at home and visit the dentist regularly. Healthcare professionals have known for a long time that there is a constant link between oral health and overall health. Regular dental visits help you live a healthy life and defend against cavities and gum disease. At the same time, an emergency dentist near you can help treat diseases before they worsen into something serious.
However, finding a good dentist in Frederick, Maryland, can take time and effort. Zocdoc can help you here. You must enter your symptoms, location, and insurance plan on the website; Zocdoc will help you choose a dentist by providing a carefully curated list of specialists. You can also filter your search results as per the dentist's gender, affiliation with a hospital, spoken languages, and whether or not they treat children. Moreover, you can quickly find an emergency dentist near you to treat abnormal conditions during their early stages.
Each provider has a separate profile on Zocdoc that provides information about their education and training, credentials, experience, specialty, licensing, and other accomplishments. In addition, Zocdoc compiles and maintains patient ratings and reviews. You can choose the best dentist in your neighborhood by looking through these. What’s more, you can use Zocdoc’s insurance detector to check which dentists accept your insurance.
Make sure you bring your insurance card when visiting a doctor. While adding your insurance information to your Zocdoc account helps you find in-network doctors easily, many offices still need you to carry your insurance card to your appointment. Check Zocdoc’s patient help center if you have any other insurance-related queries. If your insurance plan isn’t listed on Zocdoc, you can upload a photo of your medical insurance card. Zocdoc will scan the image to determine your likely plan. If you experience any difficulties uploading your card, the Zocdoc service team is available to assist you.
Both online and in-person appointments are available. Look for the purple video button on the provider's profile to identify those dentists who provide virtual consultations. Depending on the dentist's availability, you can book appointments during office hours, after 5 pm, or even on weekends. The timings of an emergency dentist near you may differ, but most of them are available 24*7.
On Zocdoc, booking an appointment is simple, safe, and free!
Statistics on dentists and dental visits in Maryland
According to the National Library of Medicine, there were about 4,266 dentists in Maryland in 2019. This means there were nearly 70.56 dentists per 100,000 population in the state.
Further, according to America's Health Rankings, in 2022, 66.7% of the adult population in Maryland reported visiting a dentist's clinic in the past year. Women were more likely to see a dentist (69.6%) than men (63.5%). The study also states that people 65 and above were most likely to visit a dentist's clinic (69.9%). The percentage was slightly lower in those aged 45 to 64 (70.4%) and those aged 18 to 44 (62.3%).
Sources
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Healthline
National Library of Medicine
America's Health Rankings[1]
America's Health Rankings[2]
Oral health
Mayo Clinic
Gentle Dental
