What is the difference between dentist and orthodontist?

As we will understand shortly, the person who treated you the last time you had a tooth problem could be both a dentist and an orthodontist at the same time. However, he was a doctor, and he was also a dentist. Confused? It is normal, but now we will try to make some clarity.

The dentist-dentist

At the end of the 19th century the word dentistry was coined to identify that part of the medicine that deals with:

·         Of tooth health.

·         of the gums

·         And in general of the tissues that make up the mouth.

Since then, the dentist can also be called a dentist, and the 2 terms are in all respects synonymous, even if the former is more colloquial and the latter has a more cultured meaning.

The orthodontist

In the set of specializations that a dentist (dentist) can achieve, there is orthodontics (from the Greek orthos = straight and odontos = tooth), a science that deals with the treatment of dental crowding, crooked teeth and malocclusions (of I, II, and III class). It must be said that a "simple" dentist can deal very well and successfully with orthodontic appliances, but that typically will be an orthodontist, who is ultimately a dentist with a further specialization who dedicates his work especially to appliances.

Read also: Are you looking for Refurbished Medical Coaches

Who does what?

So, as is often said, all orthodontists are also dentists, but not all dentists are orthodontists.

Dentists are the first contact that a person usually has with the world of medical professions related to mouth health: he will cure caries, decide whether devitalization is necessary, diagnose a problem with the gums, install a dental crown. , a bridge, a veneer, an implant , or, more simply, it can practice dental hygiene and also the whitening of the enamel .

These are the things for which a dentist must give his best every day of work, and therefore it is usual that when he thinks that a new patient has a problem that may require the use of an appliance, he directs him to a highly specialized colleague, the orthodontist.