Ideally, a patient should visit once every 6 months. However, it can be more often as well. Depending on the oral hygiene, medical conditions, your dentist will recommend your checkup visits for a checkup. Smokers, pregnant women, diabetics patient etc. will be required to visit once every 2 months.

Dental X-rays expose the patients to a small amount of radiation. In case, you are pregnant, or expecting a baby, it is important for you to inform your dentist before the treatment. The experts use the lead aprons to protect the unborn child from getting exposed to the radiation.

Dental implants are tapered cylindrical posts of titanium, which are placed in the jaw by the implantologist. They are substitutes for tooth roots that might stimulate the jaw bone and prevent its disintegration after the removal of the natural tooth. The area is allowed to heal for a few months, when the implant will fuse itself to the bone. Thereafter, a small connector is placed on the jaw on which the replacement tooth will be placed. The experts say that the dental implants last for about 40 years.

Dental implants are placed in adults. Various factors are considered when an implant is suggested as a course of treatment. If you are an adult in reasonably good health, and a single or multiple teeth are missing in your mouth, an implant would be the preferred way to go. However, patients suffering from severe gum or bone diseases are requested to take doctors advice.

People with poorly controlled diabetes are prone to dental diseases. Due to reduced blood supply, gum diseases are more common, causing deterioration of the jaw bone faster. The mouth is dry with plaque accumulation, resulting in gum diseases and tooth decay. Patients should be wary of bleeding gums, sores in the mouth, bad breath and tooth decay. With proper control of diabetes, and regular dental checkups, optimum oral health can be maintained. Please be sure to inform your dentist if you have been diagnosed with diabetes, as changes in your treatment will be made accordingly. Regular flossing and mouthwash rinses are advised to aid brushing twice a day.

There are three options for replacing multiple teeth:

a. Dentures: They are false teeth that are relatively quick and easy to fabricate. These are removable. They can be partial, to replace one or a few missing teeth, or complete, to replace all the teeth in a mouth where they are missing. A denture is a metal or acrylic framework which supports the false teeth. The framework is removable, and is designed to fit around the adjacent teeth.

b. A Bridge uses the natural teeth which lie adjacent to the area of the missing tooth, to support the false tooth/teeth between them. The natural teeth need to be shaped or contoured, in order to fit the bridge over them. A bridge is usually of 3 units, which means that for the replacement of one missing tooth, two of the adjacent teeth will be shaped to hold the bridge.

c. Dental implants are also used to replace natural teeth and are now the preferred line of treatment. Implants are usually composed of two major parts: the implant, which is cylindrical, tapered and titanium posts placed in the jaw to support the crown; and the crown, which is the tooth part visible in the mouth. Implants are excellent options as they look, feel, and function just as natural teeth do.