The Difference Between Generalized and Personalized Dental Care

There’s a popular quote that “a smile is the prettiest thing you can wear.” It’s one of the reasons why good dental care is extremely important for every individual. However, not every dentist or dental clinic can provide the necessary services for particular dental conditions. This is why dentistry is divided into multiple departments, such as orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and so on. An example of a clinic offering personalized orthodontic care is Harris Orthodontics in Utah, which specializes in providing tailored treatment plans for patients to address unique orthodontic needs. However, in the normal aspects of dentistry, there are two important classifications that every patient needs to know: generalized dental care and personalized dental care.

What is Generalized care?

In dental medicine, generalized care involves three things:

• Diagnosis ;
• Prevention ;
• Treatment.

However, these things are strictly focused on general oral health conditions rather than patient-specific issues and allergies. Generalized practice also focuses on preventative dentistry for generalized problems. It involves routine procedures and diagnostic methods, dental diagnoses for cavities, extractions, and bacterial infections, unlike personalized care. When generalized procedures are ineffective, personalized dental care is then recommended.

What is Personalized care ?

This type of care requires patients to go through extensive examinations and individual centric procedures to get a diagnosis. However, after the diagnosis, the dentist does an assessment to create a personalized plan based on the patient. In clinics such as Vera Smile, personalized dental care is common practice.

What is The Difference between Generalized and Personalized Care ?

Generalized dental care involves cheaper services that are not specific to a patient. It focuses on conditions that are easily fixable and fall within normal diagnoses. However, the difference between both aspects of dental care is not limited to just pricing. Some other differences include:

The Nature of Treatment

Unlike generalized personalized care accounts for allergies, orthodontics problems, aesthetics and more dental issues that are specific to individuals conditions.

In general dentistry, doctors do not offer specialist consultations. This means that patients end up needing to visit a more experienced and knowledgeable medical practitioner when they have specific issues. Meanwhile, in personalized dentistry, there are specialists who focus on different aspects such as orthodontics surgery, cosmetic dentistry, maxillofacial orthodontics, etc.

Cost-Effectiveness

Although generalized care may seem cheaper, it is only so because the services are not based on specific conditions. Rather, they deal with general dental problems, unlike personalized care that requires a specialist as well as more invasive and detailed diagnostics. General dentistry can be used to manage certain conditions. However, personalized treatment usually focuses on a more curative approach that seeks to completely remove the problem for the individual.

Services Offered

General dentistry offers services such as scaling and polishing, excavation, fixing braces, fluoride treatments, tooth filling, and most other generalized services related to dental care. Personalized dentistry, on the other hand, focuses on producing results that fit a client’s aesthetics, such as custom veneers, braces, cosmetic surgery, restorative dentistry, and so on. It also focuses on creating personalized plans for each patient that provide them with services for the individual rather than a collective set of patients.

Many people enjoy personalized care more than general care because of how it caters to their individual needs and ensures that they are provided with the best dental care for their particular issues.