Why Your Dental Checkup Is So Important

There are a million excuses to skip a dental checkup, and we’ve heard them all! Many people believe that they only need a dental checkup if they have a problem or are in pain, while others will choose to ignore a dental health problem out of fear of dental procedure or the cost of care. The reality is that regular dental care can prevent oral health problems before they start and help you to avoid large bills and painful procedures.

You should visit your dentist for a checkup every six months. Regular dental checkups help you to avoid invasive and expensive treatments. Your dental checkup is an important part of your health care routine for many reasons:

Prevent plaque, cavities, tartar, and tooth decay. No matter how thoroughly you clean your teeth every day, there are areas in your mouth that are hard to reach and that nearly all of us miss.  Your hygienist will perform a complete cleaning to remove plaque and tartar and prevent harmful bacteria from growing. Your dentist will examine your teeth and search for tooth decay and tiny cavities. If these small cavities are discovered early, fluoride treatment can help to reverse decay and keep them from becoming larger problems that will require fillings.

Watch out for gum disease. It is difficult to detect gum disease without a trained eye. In the early stages, gum disease shows little to no visible symptoms. Your dentist has been trained to see the signs of gum disease before most people are aware of them. Your dentist can teach you to care for your gums to prevent the disease from becoming serious. The dentist will also look for any potential contributing causes for gum disease and address them.

Find oral cancers, thyroid issues, and lymph node problems. Your dentist also looks for signs of lymph node swelling, thyroid irregularity, and oral cancers. The dentist can detect cancers and tumors painlessly before they are visible to you. Spotting these cancers and other issues while they are still treatable can save your life – late-stage oral cancer and diseases of the lymph nodes or thyroid can be life-threatening.

Regular dental checkups can keep your teeth healthy and strong and may allow you to avoid major health problems that can detract from your quality of life. For many patients, insurance covers these necessary and routine visits to the dentist. Regular dental checkups can also prevent the expensive dental procedures that may be the result of an unchecked mouth.

Call us today to plan your checkup schedule. We offer flexible hours and we work with insurance companies to provide affordable care for our patients. Don’t wait until you have a painful, expensive, or even life-threatening problem in your mouth! Schedule your checkup today.