Dentists: Why Don't We See Doctors of Oral Health as Part of Our Personal Wellness Program

According to the United States Census Bureau, Americans are far more likely to see their personal physician than their dentist. When the agency conducted its most-recent survey, only 59% of respondents said that they’d seen a dentist within the past 12 months, whereas 73% had seen a physician. If nearly three-quarters of the population cares enough about their health to visit a medical provider, why aren’t people seeing their dentists more, too?

Preventative Dentistry is Relatively New

In the grand scheme of things, preventative dentistry is new. The first hygienist wasn’t certified until 1917, and the first synthetic toothbrush didn’t exist until 1938, per ADA records. Fluoride wasn’t even used until 1945. Prior to this, dentistry was more about fixing problems, rather than understanding what caused them and preventing them. In other words, Americans have only been concerned with preventative dental techniques for about three generations.

Advances in Science Have Led to New Concepts

Comprehension of the body’s systems has been rapidly developing with scientific breakthroughs. Although we’ve understood since the 17^th century that our mouths have bacteria, we didn’t start seriously examining it until the late 1990s and early 2000s. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that multiple studies began linking heart disease to oral bacteria, and several years later, the news broke that there was a link to diabetes as well. Strong research about an osteoporosis link didn’t appear until roughly five years ago. It was throughout this 15 year time-period that we learned cancer, osteoporosis, and respiratory disease have associations with oral bacteria as well. It’s really only been the most-recent generation that has known about bacterial associations, and how what happens in the mouth affects the whole body.

There is Change with Every Generation

There was a time when people expected to lose all their teeth at some point in their lives. In fact, most of our grandparents had this mentality. They truly believed that tooth loss was an inevitable part of the aging process. When dentists began to promote preventative measures, oral health increased. As recently as 2004, a little over 30% of those ages 75 or older had no teeth. At the same time, those who were 65 to 74, and who also grew up with improved prevention, only had about a 24% rate of total tooth-loss. In other words, every generation takes care of themselves just a bit better than those who came before it.

We Can’t Undo Damage, But We Can Reduce the Impact Lack of Previous Care Has on Us

Even though most of us grew up in an era where preventative dentistry was just starting to grow in popularity, and we came before science discovered links between oral health and general health, we can still benefit from incorporating routine visits to the dentist into our personal wellness programs. Certainly, our children, grandchildren, and all other future generations will have better overall health due to these advancements in dentistry, but today’s adults will pave the way for that, and will also be healthier because of it.

The many physical and medical benefits of Dentists, make seeing your Doctor of Oral Health a part of your personal wellness program. They offer an affordable, effective advice to help you stay healthy. To learn more about our dental practice can provide an improved quality of life, contact Dr. Rose Wang in Nashua today.