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During the turn of the 19th century Greene Vardiman, considered the father of modern dentistry, first developed many of the material, tools, and techniques used today by dentists all over the world. Since then dentistry has developed from a specialized cure for tooth problems, to an advanced medical specialty with dozens of niches across the board. Before these advancements the human race paid little attention to dental health, unless it was causing them regular pain and interfered with their everyday life activities. Even then, the most common solution was to either treat the pain with a simple topical treatment, or just pull the tooth out and move on. So the question at hand is; is the rise in dental health awareness and participation over the past century due to the need for those treatments, or the just the natural result of an industry that has advanced in marketing and technology?
If you ask the modern American how they feel about dental health and they will most likely tell you it’s important to brush and floss regularly, get dental cleanings, and have needed procedures performed when their dentist tells them to. While few people can argue that cleaning your teeth and gums is unnecessary, an argument can be made that dental procedures in fact weaken teeth and can cause more problems than they fix.
If this sounds like a far-fetched notion, ask your grandparents or great grandparents about their dental care growing up. You will find that many of our previous generations didn’t regularly see dentists and had little work if any performed throughout their life. In fact many of the previous generations only went to the doctor when they were extremely ill, and let the bodies’ natural defenses handle a majority of their healthcare for them.
While modern healthcare has saved countless lives and has a proven record for doing so, the same thing cannot be as soundly stated about all facets of the modern dental industry. The most common practices of drilling and filling cavities, constructing bridges and crowns, and surgically inserting dental implants, can cause irreversible damage to human teeth. When a cavity is drilled the natural structure of the tooth is compromised and becomes vulnerable.
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Following the drilling process a filling is applied in an attempt to restore the tooth’s natural structure and stability. Unfortunately in most cases the original stability and strength of the tooth is never fully restored, and as a result the tooth begins its long journey down a long road of treatments and procedures all aimed at restoring the tooth to its natural state. This is rarely achieved, and in most cases just creates more potential for problems later on.
There are of course many situations in which modern dental techniques can treat dental illness, relieving extreme pain and offering a solution that allows patients to keep their teeth and avoid dangerous infections that can cause larger health issues if not addressed. It is clear that without modern dentistry many of us would experience painful dental issues with no other recourse than pulling the tooth right out of our jaw, and for that we should be extremely grateful.
In the end it is up to each one of us to decide which advice we will take from our dentists, and which procedure at what time we should actually have performed. Knowing that dental work often weakens teeth it is possible that treating dental issues that produce real symptoms may be a wiser choice than relying on dental x-rays to identify cavities in their earliest stages and begin drilling before totally necessary.
The human body has a natural message system called pain that communicates when something is wrong, if you don’t feel pain in your tooth you may not actually “need” to have your teeth altered from their natural state at the very moment. As is the case with all medical advice it is important to consult with medical professionals before making any decisions about your own health While you may not want to follow all of your dentist’s recommendations, it is still important to get a professional opinion to aid in your own decision.
Written by Chris Versteeg for:
Chicago Family Dentist Chicago, IL
Chicago Family Dentist 