What type of dentist should I see for checkup and cleaning? i.e. oral surgeon vs. generalist?

Answer 1

I'm a dentist.

Dentists come in one of 10 specialties:

1. General practice - as little of or as much of whatever they want. But GP's are the primary care dentists.
2. Endodontics - root canals
3. Prosthodontics - prosthetics
4. Orthodontics - braces
5. Oral & maxillofacial pathology - look at tissue samples under a microscope
6. Oral & maxillofacial radiology - radiologists of the head & neck.
7. Oral & maxillofacial surgery - perform surgeries of head/neck as well as tooth extractions
8. Public health dentistry - absolutely useless specialty
9. Pediatric dentists - treat the sh*t that we general dentists don't want to bother with, i.e. poorly-behaved children.
10. Periodontics - treat the gums & bone supporting the teeth.

General dentists are licensed to perform anything any of the above specialties can do. Obviously, we are not trained for everything. For example, I do most of my own root canals and most of my own wisdom teeth extractions, while many other dentists refer such cases to endodontists and oral surgeons, respectively. On the other hand, I am not trained in placing braces, so I refer all of my orthodontic cases to orthodontists. There are some general dentists out there who do their own orthodontic work.

Personally, there are way too many specialties in the profession. Endodontics, periodontics, public health dentistry, and prosthodontists should all be dissolved.

Answer 2

Oral surgeon : More complex oral surgery . For checkup and cleaning , a generalist will do .

Answer 3

Generally, specialists like oral surgeons will not see you if you need a checkup and cleaning. They aren't set up for it, and it's a waste of their time. If you think you need a specialist, you'll likely need a referral from a generalist anyway.

Answer 4

just a plain old generalist. An oral surgeon mostly deals with surgery, wisdom tooth removal and things like that.

Answer 5

Oral surgeons are called that because they perform SURGERIES. Cleaning is NOT surgery. You general dentist does check ups and cleaning. I don't know a single oral surgeon who does cleanings and regular check ups!

Answer 6

General dentist! Only general dentist can recomened you to to the oral surgeon if you need wisdom teeth removal or jaw surgery etc.

Answer 7

General dentist practice preventative and restorative dentistry. Oral surgeons extract teeth, reconstruct pallets for cleft patients, do implants, biopsy and jaw fractures.

Answer 8

just a regular dentist is fine
oral surgeons just deal with difficult extractions,etc

Answer 9

general