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This is typically referred to as general or family dentistry, and involves the long-term dental care of patients of every age. General dentistry includes both routine dental treatments plus preventative solutions tailored for each individual so that everyone is able to maintain a healthy mouth and pleasing smile. For example, assessment of your diet and habits may make a significant difference to the future well-being of your teeth and gum tissues.
When most people think of dental treatment, they picture restorations (fillings) and crowns (shells covering the whole tooth). However, a crown requires the removal of a substantial amount of tooth tissue in order to allow for the thickness of the artificial material. This is a shame if much of the tooth tissue is healthy, and further tissue loss will follow when the crown is replaced at a later stage. Is there an alternative?
Minimally Invasive Dentistry (MID) focuses on disease prevention and the preservation of healthy dental tissues. There have been significant advances in recent years in the understanding of the disease process that occurs in decaying (carious) teeth. This process begins with the loss of mineral content (demineralisation) from the tooth’s enamel layer. However, the good news is that the effects on dental enamel can be reversed by a healing process of remineralisation. MID seeks to encourage this healing process, initially by facilitating the remineralisation of decayed enamel.
When deeper decay has occurred, then a biologically selective approach can be used to remove decay and restore the appearance and function of teeth, while preserving healthy tissue. This has been made possible by recent advances in dental materials science, with high-quality, durable fillings, and even ‘healing’ (bio-mimetic) restorative materials now being available (see before and after photographs).
