Don’t worry: Even if you first encountered pain while bitting on a soft cake its not a big deal - and your dentist needs to know the truth to treat you better. Please don't be embarrassed with us.  Assessment of timing and occurrence of pain will help us evaluate wether the signs and symptoms are Acute or Chronic. Moreover it also helps the dentists to narrow the differential diagnosis.

Conversation between you and dentists, will give far more information to the dentists. X-rays, OPG's or CBCT and other imaging technologies are very helpful but only 5% of the time the Imaging/X-rays alone will tell the Dentists, whats is wrong. In-fact there can be abnormalities seen on X-rays/Opgs which can be unrelated to your pain. Most of the times the Dentists achieve the diagnosis on the basis of conversations which are then clinically and Radiologically correlated. 

You should have reasonable expectations for dental recovery. As Dr Mohit explains to one of the patients, "You are not a youngster. Your smile or biting power cant be the same at all ages nor will you recover from dental implants in coming weeks to have smile and bite as a youngster. That youngster guy is 25 years old and you are 58 years old and you haven't cared for your teeth for your whole life". You have to be rational and narrow down your expectations for recovery. 

You may know someone or your friend who encountered a similar dental problem or may have got himself/herself treated for similar condition. For better or worse, please do not assume his or her dental treatment plan or treatment outcomes will be exactly same as yours. "Every patient has an individualised set of dental circumstances that can not be applied or compared to another patient", says Dr R. Dhawan while explaining situation to her patient. 

It is smart to seek a Second dental opinion or even a third dental opinion. But when you meet our dental specialists, don't repeat everything you have been told by other doctors. Repeating what Dr A, Dr. B, or Dr. C said doesn't give our dental specialists an original look at your problems.

Patients are recommended not to wait too long for their follow up appointments. Do see dental specialists for dental pains, sensitivity that persists for more than 3 days or other dental issues. Report for regular follow up appointments every 6 months. Follow up with implant specialists for regular implant follow ups. Do not take any over the counter available pain killers or self prescribe with pain killers. It can aggravate your dental problems. 

Some patients rush to dental specialists with every pain or query. Certain minor dental problems such as Mouth Ulcers, can be due to Vitamin deficiencies or can be stress induced. They can be treated with rest, multi-vitamin supplements. Pain after surgeries or dental procedures can be treated with rest, home remedies, and over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs and pain pills. If you come to see our Dental Specialists for these minor problems, thats what our dental specialists are going to advise you.

It is highly recommended that you should not treat yourself and it has been found that self prescription of medications and evaluation from internet and other sources such as Google and wikipedia are most common. Self prescription is of particular concern and widespread. A study recently concluded that as many as 45% of individuals try to self prescribe dental problems. 

"As a Dental Implant Specialist, I make my living operating on tooth extractions and dental implants. However only people with a surgical diagnosis and who have exhausted all other dental treatment and conservative options are offered tooth extraction or dental implant surgery. That is far less than 5%," says Dr Mohit Dhawan, MDS (Prosthodontics and Implant Dentistry).  Dr Mohit Dhawan does about one tooth extraction or dental implant surgery per 14 patients. 

"Most people are worried about the dental treatment, but dental treatment is our Job. The real challenge for patients is in the recovery period and duration," says Dr R. Dhawan. Your dental specialists will explain in more detail as to how long your recovery will take. Patients usually recover best when they put adequate time to focus on getting better and following the detailed instructions by our dental specialists. 

The content of ADC-Centre for Restorative and Implant Dentistry's Blog/website is for information only, not advice or guarantee of any outcome. Information is gathered and shared from reputable sources; however, ADC-Centre for Restorative and Implant Dentistry is not responsible for errors or omissions in reporting or explanation.  No individuals, including those under our active care, should use the information, resources or tools contained within to self-diagnosis or self-treat any health-related condition. ADC-Centre for Restorative and Implant Dentistry gives no assurance or warranty regarding the accuracy, timeliness or applicability or the content.