Dental Partners of Brookline Dental Blog

A prostho­don­tist is a den­tal pro­fes­sional who is rec­og­nized by the Amer­i­can Den­tal Asso­ci­a­tion as a den­tal specialist.

After their gen­eral den­tistry train­ing, prostho­don­tists receive an extra three years of spe­cialty train­ing in an accred­ited grad­u­ate pro­gram offered by the Amer­i­can Den­tal Association.

Image Credit: Zaz­zle, Gifts for Peri­odon­tists

What is a periodontist?

A peri­odon­tist is a den­tal spe­cial­ist who treats peri­odon­tal dis­ease and related issues. All den­tists receive train­ing in pre­vent­ing and treat­ing peri­odon­tal issues, but severe or com­plex cases will usu­ally be referred to a peri­odon­tist. “All peri­odon­tists must com­plete an addi­tional two to three years of spe­cial­ized train­ing in peri­odon­tics fol­low­ing den­tal school” (Amer­i­can Acad­emy of Periodontology).

It used to be that only teens were con­sid­ered for ortho­don­tic align­ment. It seemed that it was worth invest­ing in the appear­ance of a teen’s smile, which usu­ally meant “train track” braces. In the last few decades, how­ever, more and more adults have sought ortho­don­tic realign­ment of their teeth, as well. And now there is an option that can pro­vide adult ortho­don­tic realign­ment in many cases in a more esthet­i­cally pleas­ing, vir­tu­ally invis­i­ble way (Invisalign).

Smile and the world smiles with you, as the say­ing goes. And it’s really true. Stud­ies show that smil­ing really is con­ta­gious and can change a person’s entire mood. Stud­ies have also shown that the more intense the smile (ide­ally involv­ing the eyes) the better.

In addi­tion, smiling:

Thirty years ago, it was a com­mon den­tal prac­tice for den­tists to replace miss­ing teeth with full or par­tial den­tures. Den­tists believed (and still do) that miss­ing teeth needed to be replaced to ensure proper chew­ing func­tion. They rec­og­nized that miss­ing teeth could con­tribute to mal­nour­ish­ment, self-esteem issues and speech difficulties.

Along with all the hoopla about den­tal implants and their advan­tages in replac­ing miss­ing teeth comes the new promise of “teeth in a day”.

In fact, Den­tal Part­ners of Brook­line does offer ser­vices of Teeth In One Visit and Teeth In An Hour Treat­ment!

One of the most com­mon deci­sions for den­tal patients who are faced with treat­ing a decayed or frac­tured tooth is between a root canal and place­ment of a den­tal implant. Not every patient will be a can­di­date for root canal treat­ment and not every patient will be a can­di­date for an implant-based crown or bridge. Each treat­ment plan rec­om­men­da­tion will be based on each patient’s needs and den­tal circumstances.