Henry A. Malm

Preventative Care is Key

Prevention is a great system to maintain both dental and medical health and reduce health care costs.  Before prevention is initiated, the patient must recognize potential problems.

A comprehensive examination must be completed before starting a dental or medical preventative system.  For example, the cardiologist does not start cardiovascular surgery before completing a comprehensive examination of the patient.  Similarly, the dental practitioner in today's time must complete the same standard of examination.

Getting started

The starting point for the initial examination is an information questionnaire of medical and dental histories, past dental experiences, medications and allergies.  The dentist must take time to discuss the information provided by the patient.  At this point, the chief complaint should be discussed so that it can be addressed during the examination.

At the beginning of the examination, the dentist should be looking at the patient's face for any irregular shapes, bumps, moles or general problems.  The temporomandibular joints are examined and blood pressure taken.  The oral cavity soft and hard tissues are examined, and oral cancer screening is performed.  Intra-oral photographs are taken of any problem teeth, inflamed tissue areas, plaque buildup and broken or missing teeth.  A compete series of dental films are taken, and cavity detecting films are taken for maintenance appointments.

Measuring the pocket depth around each tooth is performed to detect periodontal problems.  Bleeding of these tissues upon examination may be pathological, and reading over 3 mm in the pocket should be further examined for pathology.  Statistically, 70 to 75 percent of adults over the age of 32 have periodontal disease.

Many of the examined patients can prevent the premature loss of their teeth when periodontal disease is properly diagnosed with a comprehensive examination.

Beginning treatment

Only after the above examination is complete can the dentist initiate a treatment plan for the patient.  Then, the dentist's education, knowledge, experience and skill are ready to be used.

A full explanation of the conditions found, treatment options available and cost of the repairs that are necessary are explained to the patient.  The system of prevention can now be initiated with the patient.  Their problems, home-care techniques and medication treatments are discussed.  At this time, a foundation has been made for the preventative process.  Each program is individual for the patient, and many times may include vitamin and herbal therapies.

For better dental health the most important phase of prevention is the dental diagnosis.  Every patient can expect to enjoy a great smile, dental comfort and lasting dental health if the patient and the dentist work together with the easy, logical approach to the prevention process.

Article printed in The Desert Sun, Wednesday, August 30, 2000