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WHO ARE DENTAL THERAPISTS? – ELITE DENTAL CARE TRACY

The Healthcare industry has developed by leaps and bounds in recent years, and so has the dental health industry. There are several types of dentists such as the general dentist, orthodontist, periodontist, pediatric dentist, endodontist and pedodontist, where each dentist specializes in different fields of dentistry. Every dentist specializes in a certain stream of dentistry, providing good dental care. Along with these dentists, there is one more term added in recent days, i.e., the dental therapists. In this blog, let’s find out who are dental therapists and how they care for your dental health.

WHO ARE DENTAL THERAPISTS?
Dental therapists are sometimes also called oral health specialists and serve as an assistant to qualified dentists. These therapists perform basic dental cleanings and dental checkup. When you visit a dental clinic, the dental therapist assesses your dental health, performs dental cleaning to remove plaque and suggests tips for dental care. Dental therapists also detect dental defects in your mouth and refer to specialized dentists for the treatment of these defects.

HOW ARE DENTAL THERAPISTS DIFFERENT FROM DENTISTS?
Dentists are qualified with a 5-year degree in specialized dental education while dental therapists study a 3-year basic dental course. While dentists are specialized in diagnosing and treating all dental problems, dental therapists are concerned with dental hygiene, basic dental cleaning and diagnosis of certain basic dental defects.

HOW DO DENTISTS & DENTAL THERAPISTS WORK TOGETHER?
When visiting a physician, you would have seen that they
have an assistant working under them. The assistant doctor assists in basic health checkup of the patient and performs the essential groundwork for the physician to carry on with the diagnosis and the treatment. This is exactly what a dental therapist does. A dental therapist performs initial groundwork, i.e., assessing overall dental health with a dental checkup and performing dental cleaning, after which the dentist diagnoses the actual defect along with treating it. Sometimes the dentist might refer to a specialized dental doctor as well.

WHAT TASKS ARE PERFORMED BY THE DENTAL THERAPIST?
A dental therapist performs the following procedures on a patient.
1. They perform dental examinations to check if there is any abnormality in the mouth.
2. Perform dental cleaning to remove the plaque build-up in the mouth.
3. If necessary, they fill in the cavities.
4. Polish the teeth to restore the natural shine of the teeth.
5. Extracts the baby teeth.
6. Administers local anesthetic to the patient before the dental surgery.
7. Replaces dental crowns and dental veneers.
8. Takes impressions for a mouthguard to combat bruxism
9. Educates children on dental hygiene
10. Recommends a healthy diet and good oral hygiene
11. Refer the complex issues to the dentist

Sometimes getting an appointment with a dentist can be difficult owing to their busy schedule. At such times you can visit a dental therapist and consult for minor treatment of your dental pain. Thus a dental therapist is someone whom you can visit before the dentist and also refer to a dental therapist on tips for oral hygiene and a healthy diet for teeth. You can also visit https://theelitedental.com for tips on dental health.