A regular visit to the dentist is not something all of us are looking forward to. You might ask yourself what’s the point of having regular dental checkups every six months if everything is fine every time you do your check. Well if you’re considering on skipping your regular dental checkup, make sure to consider all the consequences. You have to put aside any factor that comes to play in preventing you to visit your dentist, whether that’s cost, time, or even dental anxiety. Having perfectly healthy teeth will help you sleep at night knowing that both your wallet and mind are at peace.
So without further ado, here are the four reasons why you need regular dental checkups.
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1. Oral Cancer Detection
Oral cancer is an extremely serious disease that can manifest in your mouth In multiple ways, without you knowing about it. There are no signs indicating the early stages of oral cancer, and often cannot be diagnosed, subsequently becoming life-threatening.
The good thing is that your dentist is highly trained in recognizing signs of oral cancer. With your regular six month checkup, the likelihood of your dentist finding symptoms of oral cancer is dramatically higher. Oral cancer can be treated successfully if found in the early stages, and while you think that nothing is wrong with you, your dentist may think otherwise.
Using a VELscope Cancer exam, the exam can catch invisible signs of dead tissue caused by tumor forming through a light inside your mouth. A VELscope exam is entirely painless, non-invasive, and in most cases covered by MSP, and usually lasts around 2 minutes.
2. Plaque, Tartar, and Cavities
According to Dentist Danbury, when with the most diligent brushing and flossing, there are still small areas in our mouth that we miss by regular brushing and flossing. When plaque firstly builds up, it solidifies and turns to tartar, making it extremely more difficult to remove and will need to get professional help. A dentist will prevent tartar from eroding your teeth and create holes in them, which is the recipe for cavities. Cavities rarely give any warning signs, what could be a normal day today, could be a day full of pain tomorrow. One the damage has been done, it will be more difficult for your dentist to clean the cavities, and it will certainly be painful.
3. Gum Disease
Plaque and tartar can also erode the mouth’s gum tissue. This happens when tartar buildups cause infection to the gums, making it pull away from the teeth. As soon as it reaches the point of it being gum disease, you will experience swelling, bleeding and soreness in your mouth. Gum disease also loosens the bone that holds the teeth in place, so a regular consequence of gum disease is teeth loosening or falling altogether. At this point, your only option is to go to the dentist which will be a blow to your wallet.
4. Keeping Bad Habits in Check
A lot of bad habits happen to not only be bad for your health but also bad for your oral health. You might know a few of these habits, but you might not know about the effect they are having on your oral health. Some of these habits are chewing on ice, nail-biting, jaw chewing, grinding your teeth, smoking, eating sticky food, eating hard food, drinking coffee and red wine, and more.
Make sure to regularly visit your dentist to make sure these habits haven’t damaged your oral health, and remember to not miss out on your dental checkups.