Your mouth from a Dentist's Point of View: We look at more than just your teeth
Your mouth from a Dentist's Point of View: We look at more than just your teeth
When most people go the dentist office, they think that the only thing the dentist is going to look at is their teeth and if they have any cavities. While examining your teeth does take a majority of the time, a dentist also checks at your entire head and neck region. We look at your gums, your lips, your tongue, your neck and your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). All of these components comprise your oral cavity and all of these areas should be checked thoroughly when you have a comprehensive dental exam. Let's go through each of these and explain what a dental exam is all about.
The first step is evaluating everything outside your mouth. We check your TMJ for any pain, clicking or popping. Your TMJ is the hinge that opens and closes your mouth and is located just in front of your ears. The TMJ is just like any other joint in your body. Your TMJ can crack just like your knuckles, knees or back. Problems can occur when the joint opens too far or doesn't open far enough. If it opens to far, you can dislocate the TMJ and your mouth will be stuck open. If it doesn't open far enough, you cannot eat or clean your teeth properly. So we want to make sure that the joint is healthy and functioning properly.
A dentist should also check your head and chin areas to feel for any swollen lymph nodes. Swollen lymph nodes are signals that your body is fighting some type of infection. It can be an infection from something as simple as a sinus infection; it can be from a gum or tooth infection; or, it can be something more serious like the early signs of lymphoma.
Staying on the outside, we examine the lips. Living in sunny southern California, we are exposed to a lot of sun. With excessive sun comes potential damage from UV rays. Many individuals who spent their youth in the sun approach an age where damage begins showing up as a small sore that does not heal. These small seemingly innocent spots need to be evaluated for types of skin cancer. Treated early, these skin cancers have excellent outcomes.
Let's turn our focus to what dentist's look for inside your mouth. Every time you have an exam, a dentist is also doing an oral cancer screening. We look for any abnormal white, blue or red lesions that can be found on your lips, tongue and palate. The most common place for oral cancer to be found is underneath your tongue. It is also the hardest place for a person at home to check.
Dentists also look at the size of your tongue and palate. We are screening for something called sleep apnea. Recently, this has been receiving more attention due to the sudden deaths of several high profiled athletes and stars like Reggie White and John Candy. While sleeping, your tongue and soft palate relaxes and moves into a position that blocks your airway. It can end up suffocating you while your sleeping. It's extremely important to diagnose sleep apnea early and get the treatment necessary.
Lastly, the most important thing dentists look at besides your teeth are your gums. Your gums are the soft tissue foundation for your mouth. Your teeth are held in your mouth due to the strength and health of your gums. If you are building a house, you want to have a strong, stable foundation to build on. Likewise, you want your teeth to have a firm foundation to chew on. This foundation is your gums. We determine the health of your gums tissues in many different ways. We look at color and shape; however, the most important way dentists determine the health of your gums is by taking measurements called probing depths. We place a ruler between your gums and your teeth and take measurements. Good measurements are 1,2,3's. A measurement of 4 or over means your gums are inflamed and potentially infected.
Now, here is the most important point about gum disease. Gum disease is a slow progressing, chronic disease that causes the foundation around your teeth to collapse. It causes the bone to dissolve and the gums to recede around your teeth. It is common for it to be completely painless until a gum infection occurs or a tooth falls out. Most patients who have periodontal disease have teeth that look longer than normal and have big spaces between their teeth. This occurs because the gums have receded leaving more tooth showing.
So the next time you visit your dentist, make sure to ask how everything else in your mouth looks as well; and, while teeth are extremely important, it is not the only thing that dentist look at.
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