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details of your dental plan so you know what’s covered and when. Are fillings considered preventive dental care?Fillings are not considered preventive. They fall under “basic restorative” services, which often includes fillings, extractions, and root canals, among other things. For these services you may be required to pay toward a deductible, coinsurance, or a copay, depending on your dental plan. What are the benefits of preventive dentistry?Regular preventive dental exams provide the following benefits to your oral health:3Lowers your risk for developing tooth decay, gum disease, and more serious dental problems.Helps promote good oral hygiene habits, such as brushing your teeth at least twice a day and flossing.Early identification of dental problems may help minimize treatment and cost.Enables your dentist to do a full exam of your mouth, jaw, neck, etc. to identify any related problems.Helps reduce dental problems related to some chronic medical conditions. Diabetes, osteoporosis, certain cancers, and eating disorders can all have an effect on dental and oral health.4 For people with chronic conditions, regular preventive dental care is an important part of whole person health.Do all dental plans cover preventive dental services?Preventive dental care is an important part of whole person health, so many dental plans cover it. When you’re choosing a dental plan, look for information related to coverage for diagnostic and preventive services. Make sure you understand the limits and frequencies for preventive care. For example:Teeth cleanings: You may only be covered for 2 teeth cleanings a year--1 every 6 months.Fluoride treatments: These are considered preventive only for children under a certain age.X-rays: Only certain kinds of X-rays—usually bitewing--are covered as routine or preventive and only for a limited number of views.What is the cost of preventive dental care?Depending on the type of dental plan you choose, preventive dentistry may be covered 100%. Preventive dental services include oral exam, teeth cleaning, and routine X-rays. There are often limits on how many you can get each year. If you go over those limits, you may have to pay out-of-pocket, so it’s important you understand the details of your coverage.dentistry is an important part of your health care. Review all dental plan materials to ensure your preventive care is covered.of treatment decisions are making by dentists in every day all over the world. Dentists, therefore, have a unique opportunity for delivering updated knowledge on oral health promotion to the public and their decisions regarding disease control results in considerable variation in treatment practices. Dental caries has been known as the key factor responsible for dental pain and tooth loss in populations all over the world throughout the history of mankind. In spite of preventable nature of dental caries, it is still a main burden of oral diseases in populations even in developed countries. Practically, avoiding sugar use and applying perfect oral-self care is difficult to be reached on population-level (Marthaler 1990). Therefore, fluoride use is known to be the most important measure for caries prevention in the community level. Regarding the importance of local effect of fluoride, it was recommended to start fluoride use with the erupting first deciduous tooth. Multiple use of various fluoride products provide teeth with increased protection against caries (Zimmer et al. 2003). Appropriate clinical caries management requires a comprehensive knowledge about caries detection, assessment and diagnosis. Clinicians should have a thorough understanding about the pathogenesis of caries and caries diagnostic level. They should also be able to interpret evidence derived from all sources. Restorative treatment only removes the carious tissues and does not, by itself, cure lesions. Once a restoration is placed, the tooth is subjected to a series of replacement restorations, tending to increase in size, complexity and cost (Pitts 2004).
2. Prevalence and burden of dental caries