Isn't technology amazing. A couple of years ago we gave a lift to an older friend of ours. She was in her eighties and I will call her *Nancy for this blog because this is not her name. The journey was a couple of hours so we decided to play some music along the way. Nancy was finding it difficult to hear what we were saying and she seemed to be getting a bit fatigued so music seemed like a good option. Whilst I have nearly 1000 tunes on my ipod we didn't think that *Nancy would appreciate the wonders of Roy or Credence, never mind some early Stones or Super Tramp, so we settled on Frank. We figured that old blue eyes would be to *Nancy's taste and when we asked her she seemed very happy with the idea.
"Play Frank Sinatra" I said out loud so that the 'Sync' would know what to play and sure enough the mellow tones of Frank soon filled the car. *Nancy was amazed and we all had quite a long discussion on the wonders of technology. Even the early James Bond cars didn't have 'sync'.
You may be wondering what 'sync' has to to with the latest dental treatment. Everything and nothing. It has everything to do with it because technology continues to improve and offer all sorts of assistance and improvements to our daily lives, although not all technology is wonderful (in my opinion). Of course 'sync' has nothing specifically to do with dental treatment other than this: ten years ago we couldn't have imagined what is possible now.
My orthodontist told me yesterday that I need to consider a gum graft at some point in the future. I was astounded. They graft gums? Apparently they have been grafting gums for several years now but it is only in the last year or so that they have really improved it sufficiently to make it a viable option for people with receding gums. Currently the success rate is about 86% according to the orthodontic hygiene nurse, depending on several variable factors. Like anyone presented with such information I promptly went home and googled it. What did we do before google? Anyway, there are now even more ways to have your gums grafted and this technique continues to improve, grow and develop.
When I was little we didn't know that lots of lollies were bad for your teeth or that sugar caused dental caries. We didn't floss or have mouth wash and having dental treatment could be brutal. My childhood dentist didn't believe in local anaesthetic for fillings or orthodontic treatment although many dentists did. As a nurse I had older ladies who had had all their teeth removed before they got married as part of their dowry to their future husband. The thinking behind this was that you couldn't promise not to get sick and cost your husband money but if you had all your teeth out you could promise not to cost any money in dental care. They figured that dentures were much cheaper than dental care. Imagine walking down the isle with a full set of dentures.
Now local anaesthetics are more effective and the options for providing dental care continue to develop offering us the best preventative, curative and restorative dental care that we have ever had. I look forward to the day when it is available on Medicare (the national health service) and until then I am continually grateful that I have a lovely, gentle and excellent dentist. Despite our poor start, my generation may be the first to reach their older years with their own teeth.
Enjoy having health teeth and gums
love
Sarah
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