Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the average patient. Got a toothache? Go to the dentist, right? Seems simple… but sometimes that couldn’t be further from the case. It might be if you’re lucky, but what the average patient probably doesn’t know is that there are so many specialties within the faculties of dentistry, and so many different reasons your teeth could be hurting you. If you’re one of those unlucky patients, you maybe going to the wrong kind of specialist, be receiving an incorrect assessment, and what’s worse, you may be receiving improper, or even dangerous treatment.
In a perfect world, you’d go to your dentist, receive a correct assessment, and be referred to the appropriate specialist. Perhaps your dentist is multifaceted and offers services in two or more of these areas in the same practice, but if not, patients expect their doctors to recognise the problem and steer them in the right direction. Gum disease to a periodontist, crooked teeth to an orthodontist, implants to the prosthodontist, bone infection or complex extraction to an oral surgeon, TMJ specialist or neuromuscular dentistry, etc. But most patients with more complex issues have a long road of seeking answers, before they’ve ever even heard of these unique specialties.
As an unlucky patient, you might go to the dentist with a bad bone infection, (that only an advanced specialist could recognise). Your dentist, concentrating primarily on the teeth, may not always find something wrong on an x-ray, especially if the infection was from a periodontal cause. Not every dental problem shows up as a glaring abscess on an x-ray or CT scan. And, if your dental problems arose because you may be sensitive to the materials used in your fillings, likely none of the beforementioned practitioners will have found a clue, and you’ll need to discover the advanced field of biological dentistry. Let’s just say, “It’s complicated!”
We believe it’s important for patients to be informed of their options. Getting the facts first, before the need for treatment arises, can make all the difference!
Let ACTI – Dental Origins help you navigate your best options…
ACTI - Dental Origins 