Defining a general dentist
Many believe that all general dentists are the same. As everybody describes, a general dentist is someone who looks after the oral health of many. They specialize in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions pertaining to the oral cavity. All general dentists must be a graduate from high school and has completed the required courses such as general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and statistics and calculus. A student who wants to apply for Dentistry courses, must take the Dental Admission Test, which is generally competitive and were determined based on factors such as GPA, DAT scores, research, recommendation letters, and extracurricular activities. In order to become a licensed dentist, completing the accredited dental school curriculum and successfully master all clinical competencies and national board exams is required.
A general dentist is a health care provider for all ages. They will work with the patients to develop a customized dental hygiene plan that incorporates dental examination, tooth cleaning, tooth scaling, X-ray, and use of other diagnostic equipment in able to prevent, uncover, or treat problems as early as possible. If a patient needs a dental specialize procedure, the general dentist could work with another dentist to ensure the patient’s overall satisfaction.
Highly educated and well trained general dentist can provide a variety of dental services such as cosmetic procedures, crowns and bridges, dental implants, dentures, gum disease treatment, home care instruction, mouth guards, nutrition counseling, oral surgery, orthodontic, partial dentures, restorative care, root canal therapy, sealants, and teeth cleanings.
Depending on the situation of the patient, a general dentist can perform restorative procedures in the development of a comprehensive treatment plan that will help prevent decay or diseases of the teeth, mouth, gums, and tongue. Through restorative procedures, general dentist can repair the effects of tooth decay, trauma, defect or disease in the areas of the mouth.
General dentist can also prescribe medication that would work with the conditions prevailing on the patients, such as antibiotics, fluorides, pain killers, local anesthetics, sedatives and other medication that serves as a treatment on various conditions that arise in the head and neck. They are not allowed to do complex procedures like general anesthesia, oral and maxillofacial surgery and implants unless they have additional trainings or qualification carried out.
With this responsibility shouldered by a general dentist, no wonder that they take oral health seriously. Consequently, people can no more make excuses to not have their teeth and gums to be regularly checked and treated. Long arduous years of study and mastery have been spent in aims of taking care the people’s oral health, so when it comes to proper oral care, general dentist knows what to do.
