The dental practice, your partner in health

Anyone who wants to keep teeth and gums healthy depends on professional support at the dental practice. Regular examination of the whole mouth is part of the essential programme of health care for children and adults alike. And the dental practice has long ceased to be the "repair shop" of earlier times, in which damage was mended rather than disease prevented. In a modern, prevention-oriented practice, keeping teeth healthy is the centre of attention. For the dentists and the prevention specialists there, the main point is to detect risks of disease in good time so that damage to teeth and gums can be prevented

Together with good dental care at home and a tooth-friendly diet, the dental practice is therefore an important partner in health for its patients. And with its emphasis on measures that prevent disease, individual prevention at the practice makes an important contribution to good general health

But how does a patient find the right practice, when in fact every dentist counts prevention among their areas of focus?

A practice with a modern prevention plan is marked out by very specific measures and treatments through which the individual risk of periodontitis or caries can be determined

Specially trained and qualified staff look after the individual health of teeth and gums together with the dentist

At the beginning there is a dental health check that establishes each patient's individual risk of periodontitis and caries. A probe measures how far the gum has already come away from the neck of the tooth. Deepened pockets are considered to need treatment, as they raise the risk of periodontitis. Deposits, the nesting place of harmful bacteria, are made visible by staining the teeth. Firmly attached deposits are usually loosened with ultrasound or carefully by hand with fine instruments. Powder jet devices using grains of various coarseness, salt, water and air loosen the most stubborn deposits and discolorations

But cleaning alone is not enough. Only polishing smooths the tooth surfaces – that feels good and protects against new deposits, known as plaque. The tongue, on which bacteria often settle, is brushed, tackling one of the main causes of unpleasant breath. Finally the teeth are sealed with a fluoride varnish or gel. That hardens the surface of the teeth and their necks and makes them less susceptible to acids and to painful sensitivity to temperature

The right tips for a tooth-friendly diet and for ideal dental care at home round off the professional service

Dental practices increasingly use professional computer programmes such as "Parostatus.de" when carrying out their prevention plans; these allow a standardised procedure at consistent quality. The prevention assistant is guided step by step through a complete session including all findings, right down to a full evaluation for the patient, which ensures seamless documentation and a complete overview

According to the latest scientific findings, such a computer-assisted system makes it possible – through early detection and individual risk management – to recognise, treat and monitor diseases such as periodontitis and caries

All the necessary medical parameters are recorded and entered according to firmly defined rules and evaluated by the computer. Dental parameters and individual risk factors thus form the basis for the individual assessment of the patient, followed by a recommendation for therapy and treatment

For the patient, all the necessary information is presented in easily understandable form as a comprehensive printout of their oral hygiene assessment