Our face, and within it, our smile, and hence our teeth, are one of the first things that anyone would notice of us. A beautiful and healthy set of teeth adds beauty, and is a testimony to healthy living. Our teeth perform the very important function of mastication, without which no solid food could be properly digested. Disability with mastication, therefore, results in other ailments, apart from other ailments which might afflict the teeth proper, resulting in toothache, bad breath, fungal decay, etc.
Dentistry is the practical application of dental science, which can be further defined as the science of function, structure, arrangement etc of human teeth and other supporting tissues. It has a hoary history. Dentistry, teeth extraction, dental prosthetics, and surgery have been performed in the Indus Valley Civilization (3300 BC), and in ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman Civilizations. Barbers have been involved in tooth extraction (and hence, pain alleviation) for long. Today, however, dentistry is a very specialized area of medical studies, requiring many years of post-graduate studies for registered practice. There are many specialties within dentistry, like endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, pedodontics, geriatric dentistry, forensic dentistry, etc. Dentistry has also become an area of specialty care which increasing number of people are benefiting from. Whether it is teeth whitening, dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, preventive or restorative dentistry, services are available that benefit us by allowing us to live healthier and more respectable lives.