Early this summer, we took the opportunity to highlight what parents are saying about our Las Vegas children’s dentistry. After that, we took the opportunity to answer a few of the most frequently asked questions we receive about our dental practice, approach to pediatric dental care, and more.
Next, we composed a two-part blog dedicated to helping parents understand their children’s fear of the dentist. Go ahead and check that series out if you get the chance, as we are confident that you’ll find a few morsels of knowledge that are worth your time.
Finally, our two most recent blogs are full of tips. The first is to help your child practice good oral health habits and the second is to help folks find the right pediatric dentist in Las Vegas. Spoiler alert for the last one — just give us at Anthem Pediatric Dentistry a call and we are happy to provide you with experienced, patient, and comforting dental treatment for children!
Little-Known Facts About Dentistry And Oral Health
Now that we’ve reviewed what we’ve been up to from a blogging standpoint, it’s time to do some more blogging! Today’s post is going to be a bit different from our usual content, as the title already gave away, in that we’ll be offering up a handful of random, interesting, surprising, fun, and perhaps even practically educational facts about dentists, oral health, and such. Let’s dive in!
- Let’s start with one for the kids. Interestingly enough, prehistoric children (yes, cave children), were not likely to suffer from tooth decay the way modern youth do. There’s a simple reason for this — can you guess? It’s because sugar wasn’t a part of the prehistoric diet. No sugar, no decay!
- Teeth might look and feel like bones, but they can’t self-repair the same way that bones in other parts of the body can. This is why dentists often need to give fillings and other dental treatment to make sure the teeth are well protected from more damage.
- Don’t get us wrong; simply because teeth can’t repair themselves doesn’t mean that they aren’t strong! In fact, tooth enamel happens to be the strongest substance in the entire human body. It’s remarkably durable, which makes it perfect for protecting teeth against bacteria commonly found in the mouth.
- Despite its strength, tooth enamel can wear down over time. Enamel is also responsible for your teeth appearing white, so if yours are turning yellow, it’s a sign that your enamel is decaying. Another telltale sign of decaying enamel is experiencing pain or sensitivity.
- Teeth are like fingerprints; they are uniquely yours. No one else has teeth that are the same as yours, and this is exactly why dental records are so important when identifying people using limited remains. With very little additional information, forensic professionals can find out who a person is based on their dental records alone!
- Did you know that only two-thirds of your teeth are visible? If you did (and you’re a kid), we’d be impressed! The rest is embedded inside your gums. This is exactly why you need to care for your gums as much as your teeth when brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash two or three times each day.
- Aristotle wasn’t wrong about much, but one thing we can categorically call him out for is his belief that men and women had a different number of teeth. In actuality, we all have 32 teeth to start out with. We found this factoid particularly curious, especially because Aristotle was known for being an empiricist. Couldn’t he have simply looked and counted people’s teeth? Perhaps this was extremely rude in ancient Grecian culture, or maybe Aristotle just had a bad day at the office. We’ll likely never know!
- To be fair to Aristotle, he did get something right about teeth; namely their function. “Teeth have one invariable office, namely the reduction of food,” Aristotle observed sometime around 350 B.C.E. And while Aristotle is no doubt correct concerning the office of teeth, something tells us that the aforementioned cave children could have told you what teeth are used for.
- The very first dentists were, first and foremost, barbers. In both France and China, common barbers were able to perform basic treatments such as pulling teeth. Guild barbers, who had a bit more knowledge, were able to offer more complex services.
- Dentists are able to specialize in many fields. For instance, a dentist who chooses to study root canals and dental pulp diseases is an expert in endodontics. Conversely, if you have a dentist who is a specialist with children, they are a pediatric dentist. For our part at Anthem Pediatric Dentistry in Las Vegas, we have six pediatric dentists and one pediatric orthodontist on our staff.
- Adults, are you ready to get called out? One in four American adults doesn’t brush their teeth as often or as long as is professionally recommended. The average adult brushes their teeth anywhere between 45 to 70 seconds, instead of the prescribed two minutes.
- Here’s another fun fact we are confident most of our readers will not know — your handedness is correlated with which side of your mouth you chew your food on. For instance, if you are right-handed, you are very likely to chew food on the right side of your mouth, and vice versa.
- Implant dentistry has come a long way since its…humble beginnings. The first known dental implants go all the way back to 600 C.E., where shell pieces were hammered into the jaws of Mayans (by other Mayans, to be fair) to make them appear like natural teeth. Something tells us it was fairly easy to discern the difference between the natural and artificial.
Schedule Your Appointment
We sincerely hope that you’ve enjoyed this change-of-pace blog from us at Anthem Pediatric Dentistry. But more than that, we hope you know that our children’s dentists on staff are patient, warm, and passionate about the quality of treatment and care we provide on a daily basis.
With two convenient locations in East Las Vegas and Henderson, our state-of-the-art facilities and friendly staff will make you and your child feel at ease. They might even enjoy themselves a bit! Keep in mind, however, that if you’d like to, parents are more than welcome to stay with their children for the entirety of their appointment.
Give us a call if you are ready to schedule your appointment with us or if you have any outstanding questions. We’d love to hear from you!