Busted! Don’t Believe These Myths About Dentistry!

Oral hygiene is commonly known to affect the well-being of your overall health. Naturally, you want to follow the right practices to maintain a healthy mouth. However, due to false beliefs and myths passed down from generations, many digest false information related to dental health and pass it off as the truth. Unfortunately, by doing so, you incorporate the wrong daily hygiene regiment and expose yourself to severe diseases.

At Wychwood Dental, we want to clear the air and settle the facts about proper dental care. To ensure you can differentiate between fact and fiction, we have debunked three of the most widely believed myths about dentistry.

Myth 1: You have a tooth problem only when you have pain or sensitivity.

While it is true that sensitivity to temperature or sweets or pain to biting are an indication that you may have a tooth issue. There are plenty of times where you will experience no sensitivity with a tooth that has a cavity until the problem gets too big. By then, a simple filling that might have sufficed to fix the problem months ago now won’t work, and the tooth may need something more such as a crown, root canal or extraction. That is why it is essential to have regular hygiene visits, dental exams and X-rays to find and treat potential problems before they require more work or are untreatable.

Myth 2: Flossing is a waste of time.

This was the view of the Associated Press when they published their article a few years ago citing studies that were unable to prove otherwise. While it is true that there are no great peer-reviewed studies showing the benefits of flossing, a big reason for this is that a study of that magnitude is almost impossible to complete. The cost and time to have a study following enough individuals, making sure they are flossing correctly every day and then studying the effects would be immense. However, it is proven that floss can help remove dental plaque (food and bacteria stuck to the tooth) in areas a toothbrush may not reach. In turn that can help limit the advancement of gingivitis to periodontitis (gum disease/bone loss). Moreover, flossing should take less than a minute (unless you have braces/wires) and the benefits of flossing outweigh the possible risk of not flossing.

Myth 3: The radiation from dental X-rays is dangerous.

Just like almost every other field of work, technology has made parts of dentistry, safer, easier and better for everyone involved. Dental X-rays can be added to that long list of technologies. Digital dental X-rays can now provide less radiation exposure to an individual than spending a day outside or flying in an airplane. Now, the commonplace is most offices that are safer for the patient, staff, and environment. With digital X-rays, the radiation can be lowered for each exposure which is great for the patient and staff. The digital component means no more chemicals to process the film and no more waste from the wrapping which is excellent for the environment. Digital X-rays are also crisper so that the dental team can view areas with greater clarity and spot potential problems while they are still small. However, even with this technology, dental X-rays should be taken only when indicated, and the number of X-rays taken should be kept low and reasonably achievable to view what needs to be seen.

To avoid falling for myths like these and others, and to work with experienced dentists, reach out to Wychwood Dental. Our cosmetic dentists and family dentists in Toronto, ON have more than twenty-five years of experience. We offer a wide selection of dental treatments including bonded fillings to replace old metal fillings or dental bonding to repair or change the appearance of a tooth, teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, non-surgical gum therapy, implant restoration, and many others across the GTA.

To learn more about our dental services, please click here. If you have any questions about dentistry or our services, get in touch with us here.