Hygiene and Prevention

If there is a truly important field in dentistry and all medical specialties, that is prevention. At the moment it is giving a great development in all the dental specialties, especially in the implantology and the prosthesis, arriving sometimes to suggest that they are a good alternative to many dental and aesthetic problems. This is not always the case, we must be clear about the exact indication of each treatment. Therefore, no matter how good and well-executed the treatment is, an implant or a prosthesis to a natural tooth will never be better.

Hence the importance of prevention and early diagnosis of oral diseases, mainly caries and gum disease, without neglecting the problems of crowding and dental malposition and other pathologies, such as tumor pathology, especially cancer.

The main prevention tool is hygiene, although we must also take into account many other factors, which can be predisposing, facilitating the appearance of the disease, or triggers of the disease themselves.

Within these factors we can find cigarette, both smoked and chewed, the consumption of sugary products, such as pastries, packaged juices, carbonated soft drinks, etc., chronic pharmacological treatments, which can cause a decrease in the secretion of saliva, which is a great protector of oral health, habits such as biting the nails, mouth breathing in asthmatic patients, bruxism or tightening, and a long etcetera.

Hygiene, as we have said before, is the main weapon that we have for prevention, which must be correct, both in time, frequency and technique, as well as in the quality of it. We see many patients who wash their teeth, but do not do effective hygiene, most of the time due to ignorance.

In addition to hygiene there are more prevention techniques:

• In children we can apply groove and fissure sealants, to prevent occlusal caries, and fluoridations. We will also place special emphasis on the prevention of developmental problems, such as the use of pacifiers and thumb sucking, such as immature swallowing or mouth breathing, which can lead to growth problems of the maxillary bones such as dental crowding.
• In adults prevention comes hand in hand with counseling, mainly in hygiene, as we have said, but also in other habits, such as smoking, or the use of splints in squeegees, whose main role is also preventive. But we will put special emphasis on advising on a good oral “aging”, since the objective is that we maintain a healthy and well balanced mouth throughout life.

It is also important to know that sometimes losing a tooth does not have as much immediate harmful effect as the alteration that it will cause in the rest of the mouth, which will try to compensate that loss with a series of adaptations and movements that will unbalance all the system, producing pathologies in the future.

Within this philosophy, we must be clear that it is very important oral revision by a good professional in the clinic at least once a year, and sometimes even more often in those cases in which there are risk factors that need to be controlled, and the performance of oral cleaning when indicated.

Do not forget that maintaining a healthy mouth will undoubtedly be the most beneficial to your health, both oral and general, as well as being the most economical, since it will avoid having to embark on treatments that are sometimes long, uncomfortable and expensive.