OD – Why You Need to Know More About this Most Destructive Dental Disease

Occlusal Disease.

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of this.

Now, put your hand down because nobody can see you.

But seriously, not many individuals who work outside of the dental community know what occlusal disease is, which isn’t surprising, as many who work within the industry don’t know a whole lot about it either.

Occlusal disease (known as OD for short) is believed to be the main cause of tooth loss. Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about why it’s important for YOU to know about OD.

OD is one of the most destructive diseases of the mouth, yet so many dentists don’t know how to diagnose it. This is because, as I mentioned above, most dentists aren’t experts in occlusion (the manner in which the upper and lower teeth come together when the mouth is closed), despite the fact that they alter it each time they replace a missing tooth. Why, when dentists are supposed to be experts of the mouth, would so many not know about OD? Because the occlusion courses available to them make occlusion “too complicated,” and the diagnosis of OD “too burdensome,” for many to bother.

We are not many. And both of us—Dr. Ross and Dr. Kron—continue to further our education every chance we get. And that includes furthering our education about OD.

Again, how does all of this information pertain to you?

It pertains to you because you want to find a dentist who is willing to go that extra mile for you. You want to be able to trust that when your dentist gives you a clean bill of health, they are doing so only after evaluating every inch of your mouth for every possible problem.

If you’re in or around White Bear Lake, we can be those dentists for you – the ones who will go above and beyond to ensure your utmost health. To see how we can help you, visit http://www.lakeshorefamilydentist.com/patients.html