Family Dentist

Getting the proper dental health plan is always a bit difficult. With so many dentists out there to choose from, the search for the right fit for you and your family can be an uphill swim unless you know how to sift through the possibilities.

Depending on what you ask, you will get different information about the dentists, and how they work. As such, knowing who to ask, as well as what to ask, is very important. The details that are granted to you about the family dentist you may be the difference between your children having great smiles throughout their early years, or having multiple complications down the road. Here are the top questions you should be asking when getting to know your new family dentist.

What is my overall dental health situation?

This question should be the introduction of the meeting with your family dentist. A preliminary report on your dental health can mean a world of difference, as they can give you a strong baseline for where your oral health stands, and what needs to be done.

This can be said for all of the children or family members that will be seeing this dentist. Getting a strong baseline for your children increases the chances of a possible complication or issue being found much earlier on in the development process. This is because a family dentist is able to use your dental health situation, and match potential hereditary complications to the early symptoms. This could circumvent a potential heredity issue becoming a major problem in your children.

What will improve my oral health?

This question can give you insight into how your family dentist wishes to get your health on track. Depending on their answer, you will have an understanding of whether they prize short-term remedies, or work to get a long-term plan ready.

They will also tailor the plan to specifically enhance your family’s oral health. Each family is unique and different, and each family member is unique and different in your own ways. Because of this, your family dentist will be able to create a specialized, customized plan that fits your needs, and will help to give you that perfect, healthy mouth.

Am I brushing and Flossing Properly?

Asking your family dentist about your brushing and flossing habits can seem fairly mundane, but it can mean a world of difference. Brushing and flossing are two of the most basic and simplest ways to deter many issues, such as cavities, decay, and rot. If you are not brushing or flossing properly, you may be leaving space for diseases to take hold.

Not only that, your children may be at risk as well. At different developmental stages in a child’s life, it may be necessary to use different techniques to brush their teeth. This is because their teeth may not have the proper defenses if you use too hard of a brush or toothpaste combination, or they may have softer gums that will have serious damage from strained brushing and flossing. Getting the techniques and tools down enables you to still work towards a healthy child’s mouth, without injuring them in the process.

Is there anything my family dentist needs to know about?

This question can help you learn what your family dentist needs from you. A doctor is not all-knowing just because they have your past records. They may request past information that is not readily available in a standard history form, or they may ask about previous injuries that have produced complications in a child’s mouth. In both cases, having this information may be key to stopping a potential problem from advancing into developed stages.

Family dentists may also have specialized questions that you may not have thought about. This can be in line with hereditary complications that you might not know about, as well as their own personal questions that they use to personalize the dental health plan for your family.

What recommendations can be made for a family diet?

As stated in the previous questions, each and every family has their own circumstances that are unique to their family. Because of this, once the questions are asked, your family dentist will be able to let you know what foods and drinks you should avoid or consume.

Things such as pop and soda products may seem obvious, but some organic foods also have proteins and components that may or may not act in the same way. If your family dentist finds that your family’s enamel is especially weak and thin, they may reduce your intake of some soft drinks or high-sugar foods, in an attempt to contain the potential erosion of the outer layer. In other cases, they may cut out hard foods since they may find that your children’s teeth are developing a bit slower than the average rate, and eating hard foods would run a high risk of damaging the teeth before their full development.

Not only can they help to point out foods that are not good for you, but they can also help build a comprehensive and alternative diet plan that can act as friendly alternatives. This means you will not have to sacrifice taste and variety just to keep your mouth happy. Instead, you can still enjoy your food to an extent, just with some changes in the lineup.

How often should we see the dentist as a family?

This question should be the one obvious one on the list. Getting a solid fundamental understanding of how often regular checkups should be is key to keeping your children healthy. This is because certain diseases and problems all have a certain timeline they follow. Some develop slowly, and some develop quickly.

Due to your unique family heritage and genetics, your family dentist will give you a comprehensive schedule that may go for a few months to a year out. They can tailor the schedule specifically to match potential changes in your children’s mouths, and therefore stopping potential dangers in their tracks before they even occur.

Remember, these are just a few of the questions you can ask your family dentist. However, these are the best to get the most out of your first visit, as well as getting to know how your potential family dentist thinks. Getting a good baseline for your family’s overall dental health, as well as ways to improve your techniques at home, can mean a world of difference when it comes to your oral health. So don’t wait, make sure to ask the proper questions when it comes to getting a clean and healthy smile.