Looking For Specialist Dental Care In Bedford? We Can Help
Some dental issues require more complex treatments to resolve the problem, our team is here to help.
Most people reading this blog will have had some form of treatment carried out by a dentist and in many cases, this will have been relatively minor such as a filling. While these are the most common types of treatments carried out at our local dental clinic, this is not always the case and some patients will require more complex procedures to be carried out.
The good news for patients of The Dental Centre Bedford is that our team has the required skills and experience to treat most of these complex issues. In today’s blog, we’ll take a look at three of the main specialist dentistry disciplines.
Periodontics
Dentists specialising in the field of periodontics focus primarily on the patient’s gum health. This might seem strange to anyone who knows little about dentistry, but the reality is that our gum health is extremely important. Even leaving aside any discomfort or pain caused by some of the symptoms such as sore or bleeding gums, the importance of the role that they play becomes most noticeable when periodontitis occurs.
Periodontis is the latter stage of gum disease, following gingivitis, the earlier stage. When periodontitis happens, it not only affects the soft tissue of the gums, but can also impact the bone that secures the tooth in place. As this becomes damaged and degraded, the teeth can become loose and eventually fall out.
Prevention is the best solution, with good home care and regular appointments with our hygienist. For those who have gone past this stage though, a periodontist can intervene to try to restore the gum health and save the teeth. This is sometimes done through a procedure known as ‘root planing’. Unfortunately this is quite invasive and involves the removal of tartar (hardened bacteria and minerals) not only from the gum line but below it, potentially down to the roots and the bone.
Endodontics
The word ‘endodontics’ loosely stems from the ancient Greek meaning ‘inside’ and ‘tooth’. Most treatments of the tooth focus on the tooth enamel and the layer below it, known as the dentin layer. Our teeth are more complex than just these two layers though and this particular field of specialist dentistry focuses on the root canals of the teeth which lie at the very centre.
The root canals of the tooth contain tiny blood vessels and also the nerves of our teeth which allow us to judge how hard we are biting on something, and which are also responsible for any tooth sensitivity or toothache that we feel.
When bacteria enter the softer dentin layer of the tooth, whether through decay or damage, there is a real risk that these can make their way into the root canals of the tooth if not stopped in time with appropriate treatment. When this happens, there is no way of saving the pulp and this needs to be removed by carrying out a root canal procedure.
This complex, but effective, treatment removes the pulp and cleans out the hollow root canals. It is then filled with a special filling material called gutta percha which seals the canals. In many cases, a crown will then be added to the tooth to strengthen it and provide a more natural appearance. The tooth can be used more or less as normal but, as the nerves are no longer present, we can’t feel it as well and patients undergoing this treatment are recommended to be cautious when biting down on harder food types.
Prosthodontics
Prosthodontics includes all the recognised tooth replacement methods, including dentures, bridges and dental implants. Everyone will vary in their needs and financial ability and our aim is to find a solution that works best for our Bedford patients. Each of these treatments have their pros and cons and we will discuss these with you should you need to have missing teeth replaced.
Where circumstances allow, we feel that dental implants offer the best solution. This is largely because they not only replace the crown part of the tooth, but the root too. Placing the artificial tooth root means that the bone loss that usually occurs when a tooth is missing is avoided. It also means that the replacement tooth is very secure and allows confidence when eating or speaking. If you come to us to have a missing tooth replaced, we will make sure that you have the information necessary in order to make an informed choice about the option you would like to take.
We hope that today’s blog has helped you to understand these particular roles and we are happy to address any others that you would like to know more about.
If you think you may need the help of any of our specialist dentistry team or would like to contact us for any other oral care related matter, please call The Dental Centre Bedford on 01234 819868.