Today patients see a dentist either to alleviate their pain, to establish dental health, prevent dental disease, or to makeover their smile and boost their social confidence and ability. For many the ‘best dentist’ is the one that can do these things with skill whilst keeping them comfortable and pain-free. But patients often don’t realise what additional benefits they might be gaining as a result of a good dentist’s care – from cardiovascular health to prevention of diabetic and birth complications.
In the near future the best dentists may also be in the forefront of health and disease diagnosis, if University of Maryland’s research into the mouth as a diagnostic snapshot of the body is anything to go by.