There are a few things that you need to keep in mind especially if you are going to visit a dentist’s office in the new area for the first time.

• Make sure that you have all of the necessary documents that your new dentist can look at to examine your case. You should also provide contact information of the most recent dentist and doctor.
• You can request your former dentist to transfer your records to the new dentist via email.
• If you have any health condition, you need to tell your new dentist about it.
• Don’t forget to tell your dentist about any specific issues such as dental anxiety or fear.

At the dentist’s office for checkup

While different procedures are followed at different dental offices. There are some generalized steps that every dentist follows.

When you will check-in, a receptionist or the dental staff is going to receive you. They are going to collect your contact number and your health history. Make sure that you answer all of their questions. They may also ask about the medications you are on. They are going to keep your information private. Remember, they are going to update information on every dental visit.

After checking in, the dentist staff is going to take you to the dentist for a basic dental checkup. The procedure of this basic dental checkup may involve the following.

• The dentist is going to take x-rays of your teeth in order to know about the health of your teeth’s portion below the gum line.
• The physical exam comes next in this procedure. The physical exam helps a dentist know about the health of teeth and gums. Moreover, they are also going to look for the other abnormalities such as oral cancer during this exam. Based on this exam, they can recommend you certain healthcare procedures which you can follow at home in order to maintain your oral health.
• After the evaluation is complete, your dentist is going to start the treatment based what seems appropriate. The treatment is going to be planned based on the information derived from evaluation.

After your treatment is complete, you need to pay for your visit and get the next visit scheduled.

The number of teeth

It starts with the baby teeth which are also called primary teeth. All of the primary teeth erupt until the age of 2 or 3 years. The total number of primary teeth is 20. At the age of five, the primary teeth start getting replaced by permanent teeth. The total number of permanent teeth is 32.

Many parents underestimate the role of primary teeth just because they are not permanent. But the matter of fact is that those primary teeth are significantly important for the oral health of your child. First, they help your kids chew their foods. Secondly, they act as placeholders for the permanent teeth. There are usually 10 primary teeth in the upper jaw and 10 in the lower jaw. On the other hand, the number of permanent teeth in the upper jaw is 16 and same is the case with lower jaw.

Time of eruption of permanent teeth

If you look at the eruption of permanent teeth, you will notice that they follow the same pattern as that of the primary teeth. Usually, the first set of primary teeth falls out to give space to the permanent teeth to grow. We are not talking about the exception in which the teeth fall out due to injury or trauma to teeth or face.

The age at which most of the children start losing their primary teeth is 5 or 6 years. And they get their majority of permanent teeth at the age of 12 - 13 years. These teeth mainly include four front teeth (incisors), four lateral incisors, teeth that are located between front teeth and canines, canines, and eight molars. Two of the molars grow in the area where there were no primary teeth. It means they didn’t have to replace any teeth.

Third molars, or wisdom teeth, are the last set of teeth to arrive. They usually start erupting between 17 to 21 years of age. In some cases, wisdom teeth may never erupt. In many cases, the mouth doesn’t have enough room for the wisdom teeth to erupt. This lack of space leads to the impacted teeth which can be quite problematic and painful. The dentist may decide to remove wisdom teeth in this regard.

Good oral care is extremely important to make sure that the teeth of your child remain healthy. For this purpose, you can educate them about dental hygiene and make sure that you take them to dentist regularly.

It would be worth mentioning what happens during a dental cleaning appointment. The main purpose of dental cleaning is to remove plaque and tartar from the surface of the teeth. If this tartar is not removed, it can lead to cavities and gum disease. An ultrasonic tool may be used for the removal of most stubborn plaque buildup. The small spots of tartar are removed with the help of hand held tools.

After the teeth are cleaned, the dentist will then polish your teeth. This polishing is done with the help of a device which has a rubber cap on the cleaning end. The cleaning is done with the help of the spinning of rubber cup. Before this rubber based device is brought into the action, a paste is applied on the surface of the teeth. This paste is similar to the toothpaste and the flavor is also similar. The spinning of the rubber does the polishing action and also removes the stains. Then the mouth is rinsed. After rinsing, the hygienist may floss your teeth and apply fluoride to strengthen the tooth enamel.

The polishing is also done to remove the surface stains these days. In the past, it was believed that polishing is what hardens the teeth’s surface and keeps bacteria from sticking to the surface. But it turns out now that removal of plaque and tartar during the ultrasonic scaling is the process that actually prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth. And polishing, as the name suggests, does the smoothing job. However, you need to keep it in mind that there is no research suggesting polishing to be helpful in the prevention of cavities and gum disease. As a matter of fact, some studies suggest that polishing can actually weaken the tooth enamel.

The dental professionals now consider polishing as a purely cosmetic dental procedure. And of course it can remove the surface stains. While it is a procedure that you can go for in order to get the shine and smoothness you want, you have to keep it in mind that you will have to go for a dedicated dental cleaning appointment if you want to prevent cavities and gum diseases.