Your teeth are an important tool for your overall health as well as for improving your smile. Without teeth, you can’t properly chew your foods and wind up limiting your diet to soft items which are easy to swallow. Sadly, this eliminates a lot of very important foodstuffs which we need to include in our diet for better health. Likewise, cavities can lead to infections which can enter the jawbones and the bloodstream creating a whole different set of problems. Most of these issues can be avoided with proper oral care and regular visits to local dentists like Idema Douglas DDS for Dentist Services in Sioux Falls SD.
Sadly, many people wait to visit a dentist until it is too late and the problem has become painfully severe. At this point, infection may be the primary problem and the dentist may be required to eliminate that infection before they can proceed with any treatment. Luckily this is usually possible with simple antibiotics and some time. Once the infection is cleared the next step is to determine how bad the cavity is. If you are lucky, the tooth can be saved and the cavity filled. In many instances however, the dentist may have to perform a root canal to remove the nerve in the base of the tooth. In spite of their bad reputations, root canals are not so terrible and once they heal a bit you will forget all about them. After all the drilling is done the cavity is filled to protect the remainder of the tooth.
If you are one of the more diligent people who have properly taken care of their teeth and simply wish to improve your smile, dentists such as Idema Douglas DDS can help in this respect as well. Cosmetic dentistry is perhaps the largest volume of dental work in America today. From simple teeth cleaning and bleaching to overlay veneers, there is a cosmetic procedure to repair your problem. If you happen to have missing teeth then dental implants can replace them. In cases where the jaw has deteriorated and implants may not work well, dentures are still an option.
