How can I maintain my oral health - for dentists and patients.

How Can I maintain my oral health?

Every day I receive a lot of questions towards this issue. Do we have a formula, a recipe to keep our teeth health? Each patient should be seen individually and not only based on protocols. They are very important because in science we work based on evidences, not empirically. But, this is not sufficient to offer the holistic oral quality of life. Protocols cannot catch up the history of one patient, and it is poorly precise to determine the psychological health or infer the future based on the nuances that only a experienced professional can see... Professionals should keep in mind that protocols are paths, not rails and know that the patient is always bigger than the pathologies. Botton line, the dentist (or any other professional that works with human health) must talk, discover, penetrate the inner psique of the patient, to provide the best advices por each situation. If we achieve an equilibrium in a determined "outdated" treatment as, for example, a standard dental bridge, why should one dentist "force" the indication of an implant? Of course we have to explain the possibilities to the layman and decide WITH the patient, the option that will fit that determined moment. Let's keep it simple. Let's go back to basics... Patient, the best dental treatment approach that you will have is learning everything about your oral condition, because with information, you will be able to help yourself the best way you can. I always tell my patients (I am a periodontist), that I can make only 50% of the job, the other 50% I teach, and the patient will be the main responsible to provide his own mouth health. Think about it.