What makes a dental specialist so special?
For your own knowledge and interest, or even perhaps if you’re considering a career in dentistry, you might like to know that there are several different kinds of dentistry out there. After completing the basic dentistry degree, dentists can then specialise in one of a few different areas. In all cases of becoming a dental specialist, the dentist, like I did, will have to either complete a postgraduate qualification in the area or complete some sort of comprehensive training or residency program.
The different main kinds of specialist fields are public dentistry, endodontics, surgery, prosthodontics, orthodontics, pedodontics or ‘child dentistry’ and cosmetic dentistry. Public dentistry deals with social trends and social dental patterns, and is more theoretical than practical. Endontic dentists specialise in performing things like root canals, and are experts on the gum area. Surgical dentists carry out dental operations much like ordinary surgeons in the medical profession. Prosthodontics focuses on the use and creation of things like dentures and other dental prosthetics used to repair and replace the teeth.
Orthodontists, as is commonly known, specialise in straightening teeth as well as dealing with ‘bite’ issues, where the top or bottom set of teeth might go beyond where it should in relation to the opposite set. Pedodontists, otherwise known as paediatric dentists or simply as ‘child dentists’ specialise in child dentistry, whilst cosmetic dentistry is primarily concerned with the look of the smile more than anything else, and covers areas like whitening and the use of veneers. If you’re looking for one of the above kinds of dentist, there are probably more than a few specialist dentists in Reading available.