Personal Financial Tips

Article by Anders Abadie

Although most people will only ever see their dentist for a basic teeth cleaning, a general dentist is qualified to do more. In fact, the education of a Doctor of Dental Medicine(DMD) or general dentist is well-rounded to include the basic aspects of dental surgery. A general dentist is qualified to do a number of things including, root canals, tooth extraction, and filling cavities.

Dental school prepares its student’s for general studies in the field of dentistry. Upon graduation, the student is awarded the title of DMD, which allows the doctor to take a licensing exam. Although the licensing requirements will vary by state, a DMD is required to have a license in order to practice dentistry in their jurisdiction. Having fulfilled these requirements, a DMD will go into the general practice of basic oral care. These dentists can handle a number of oral health issues beyond a simple teeth cleaning. Their dental education prepares them for performing a wide variety of procedures, each with varying degrees of difficulty. Tooth extraction is one such example of a procedure that a DMD is knowledgeable and prepared to do in their office. However, this procedure is also a specialty that is more often performed by a periodontist or a Maxillofacial surgeon. Although the general dentist is qualified to remove a tooth. They may choose to refer their patient to a specialist for a number of reasons. For instance, a specialist may need to diagnose the cause of the infected tooth, which a periodontist is more qualified to do. Likewise, wisdom teeth are not easily removed, and the expertise of a maxillofacial surgeon might be preferred for the procedure. Pediatric and geriatric dentistry are also considered dental specialties because juvenile and elderly patients will have different needs and standards of oral care that are different than the general population.

A Doctor of Dental Medicine will need additional education in order to practice one of the nine dental specialties. Although the educational requirements for each specialty will vary, each includes a minimum of two years of additional education. However, once the dentist has completed the educational and licensing requirements, they are permitted to practice both general dentistry, as well as their chosen specialty. However, most will choose to focus on patients with needs within their specialty. Having a general dentist with a license in any one of these specialties is helpful because there is no need to visit a different dentist for specialized care.

There may come a time when a visit with the general dentist will include more than a basic teeth cleaning. When this happens, you may need to visit a different dental specialist for treatment. Fortunately, a number of DMDs will have a background in one of these specialties, which eliminates some of the anticipation of having to visit a new dentist.

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