Did You Know?

Many people don't see a dentist on a regular basis. They go when they feel pain. We call this "crisis treatment" as opposed to "preventive treatment". The reason for this is that most dental problems don't have any symptoms until they reach the advanced stages. An example is tooth decay. Tooth decay doesn't hurt! Until, that is, it gets close to the nerve of the tooth. A root canal and crown are usually necessary instead of a small filling, which could have been placed several years ago when the cavity was small. We can usually detect a cavity 3-4 years before it may develop any symptoms. It is not uncommon to see a patient with a tremendous cavity and they have never felt a thing!