Caring For Your Oral and Dental Health: Everything you need to know about Dentistry and Oral Health

You, your teeth and your dentist are some of the issues one cannot ignore, but most people probably remember their teeth or dentist only when they develop that unbearable toothache or that somewhat fashionable painful wisdom tooth. Your teeth, your oral health and in consequence your dentist, have remained sidelined for quite some time now. In fact, many myths and misconceptions about them have developed, often to everyone’s detriment, these include sentiments like dental phobia, to sheer dental neglect, to hating your teeth as well as your dentist. There are indeed apprehensions about the dentist’s bills, and at times, his integrity or competence. It is these issues that this book tries to address.
There are people amongst us, who need to improve their awareness about the importance of their teeth and the masticatory apparatus. Many amongst us have taken these structures for granted, liable to abuse and wear, while some feel that modern dental science can solve all their dental woes, sometimes overestimating the power of the healer, to the cost of everyone, including themselves. The book seeks to throw some light on the various issues you would encounter, once you start thinking about your teeth. In fact it exhorts you to take your oral health seriously and think about preventing oral and dental disease, rather than rushing to seek assistance in emergency situations, a good oral hygiene and dental health makes an impact on individuals, their families, the community and infect the entire nation. Nowadays there are various treatment modalities available in modem dentistry about which we everyone should be aware. The book tries to answer some common queries and reservations that patients have about certain treatment options. It goes on to consider certain controversial issues currently facing the dental fraternity, and leaves the reader to make an informed choice.
The book gives information on training imparted to dentists and the qualifications they hold, thus enabling the reader to have an idea about the competence of their dental surgeon. It will also help attract fresh talent into the profession. It must be stressed, however, that like all healing professions, dentistry is an art as well as a science.
Though it would not be possible to either justify or not justify the charges for dental services, the book tries to shed some light on the economics of dental practice, thus giving a dentist’s perspective of costs and charges. That is not to say that dentistry should be equated to a trade in any perceivable way, but it gives the reader an idea about what he is paying for. It also tries to impress upon the patients their position as consumers of a service. The aim of the book is to create an informed patient who has an idea of what he or she can seek, the limitations of dental services, their duties and rights as responsible patients, so as to make the association with the dentist a satisfactory and rewarding experience.