People often wait too long to head to the dental office for a regular checkup. While most preventative dental care happens at home, it’s important to visit a professional dentist every six months to manage plaque, check for diseases, and prevent complications from coming up in the future. Oral hygiene is directly linked to keeping other parts of your body healthy, making routine general dental checkups extremely important to managing your overall health.
What to Expect During Regular Visits
A thorough examination at the dentists’ involves a lot of procedures and checking for tooth decay is just one of them. Your dentist or hygienist will assess gum health, look for signs or oral cancer, and check for vitamin deficiencies including diabetes. Lower jaw joint movement, face, saliva, and your bite may also be examined. Your teeth will be cleaned, and the doctor will cover tips for maintaining proper oral care. The simplest way to maintain healthy teeth and gums is by visiting your dentist regularly. Remember, preventive dentistry remains your best bet in dealing with potential oral health issues before they lead to other complications.
After your initial inspection, the dentist or dental hygienist will perform routine cleaning to remove the plaque and tartar built up on your teeth. During this process, the dentist or hygienist removes tartar buildup in hard to reach places that brushing won’t be able to get done at home. The dentist can also repair mostly healthy teeth from cavity infection using fillings. Following cleaning, your teeth are treated with polish to protect your teeth from future plaque buildup.
We will explain why seeing your dentist twice yearly is important for the health of your mouth and body.
Tooth Decay and Cavities
One of the most important reasons to regularly visit your dentist is prevent tooth decay and cavities. Part of the exam is a thorough cleaning that removes plaque and debris that can cause these issues. It will also allow the dentist to see if there are any beginning signs of either decay or cavities, so they can be addressed head-on and not become larger issues.
Gum Disease
Similar to the above point, regular dental check-ups help prevent gum disease. When plaque and tartar have a chance to build-up, they can eat away at the tissue of the gum. If this issue escalates, it can cause the tooth to begin to pull away from the gum and lead to breakdown of not only your gums but also the bone that holds your teeth in place! This is not only very painful, but can be very expensive to treat. Your best option is to have your teeth cleaned regularly to prevent this issue entirely.
Other Health Issues
Beyond the teeth cleaning at your regular check-up, your dentist will also examine you for other health issues. One thing he/she will look for is signs of oral cancer, which is vitally important to identify in its early stages. Your dentist will also check your neck, lymph nodes, and head to look for any abnormalities. This also helps identify cancers and other diseases in their early stages.
Habits
Visiting your dentist enables them to determine if you have good dental hygiene habits. From your exam, your dentist can see if you floss frequently enough, spend enough time brushing, etc.
Once your examination and cleaning have been performed, they’ll tell you about the health of your teeth and gums and then make any additional recommendations. It’s important that you see your dentist every six months and that they give you routine examination and cleaning. Remember, by seeing your dentist on a regular basis and following daily good oral hygiene practices at home, you are more likely to keep your teeth and gums healthy.
