The Importance of Dentists In Society - Prompt #9 - Jake Hardin

I am sure most of you are wondering what a dentist actually does? Besides taking care of our overall dental health, there are quite a few things you may have not been aware of that a dentist partakes in or does that can make him/her a valuable member of society

Some of the things that dentists can be involved in are each of the following services listed below:

Oral Health Care

- Dentists can help repair damaged teeth caused by either accidents or disease

- Dentists help fix misaligned, crooked, cracked, missing, and badly spaced teeth with simple, but somewhat costly procedures such as braces and palate expanders.

Palate Expander

- Dentists can also replace lost or damaged teeth that are too messed up to fix through things like implants and dentures

- There are many different things dentists specialize in. Some are strictly orthodontics, while other could specialize in surgery or something along the lines of radiology. The reason some dentists are better/more experienced in their specific area is to give you, as the patient, the best possible care in regards to your specific needs

- Lastly, I'll note that having a healthy smile can bring great advantages to your overall well-being. Feeling more confident and being more productive as a member of society are just some of the Pros of keeping up with your dental hygiene.

Results of Dentures 

Detection of Diseases

- Most are unaware that oral health has a direct link to diseases and other illnesses such as diabetes and cancer. Dentists are usually able to detect early on before signs of symptoms if you are predisposed to getting a stroke

Research and Development

- As technology keeps getting more advanced, dentists have to stay ahead of the oral health care society needs, and as a result have to repeatedly modernize their skills through continuous research

Business Management and Leadership

- Besides from the mouth aspect of things, a dentist also has to manage his/her practice as an actual business, which means they have to be involved with everything from financial management to different marketing skills

- Dentists also have to hire/employ other workers specialized in oral health. (i.e. lab technicians, hygienists, assistants, and so on.)

Education

- Dentists educate us to make sure we are aware what general illnesses are common in our society as well as the basic facts about keeping your teeth/mouth clean and healthy

- Most of the time dentists get this information out to the public through TV and different advertisements (both online and not), as well as things like public speaking conventions

Why Dentists Are Needed

- Dentists are necessary for living a long and healthy life, without them readily available our expected age of living would drop and a lot more health problems would arise.

- When you don't take care of your mouth regularly and also avoid the advice of visiting the dentist then the consequences usually end with many different health problems, for example tooth decay. If you don't want to end up looking like the Scottish gentleman then I advice you to be proactive when it comes to tooth/mouth hygiene.

Citations:

Clinic Staff, Mayo. "Adult Health." Oral Health: A Window to Your Overall Health. N.p., 11 May               2013. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.

"Dentists: Doctors of Oral Health." Dentists: Doctors of Oral Health. American Dental Association,             n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.

Feinberg, Edward M. "Dental Health & Well-Being - Ed Feinberg, DMD - Scarsdale." Edward M.              Feinberg, D.M.D. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.