Everyone understands the importance of routine at-home oral care. Brushing and flossing will make up the majority of your protection from decay and gum disease in between routine dental visits, but it’s important that you don’t allow your at-home care to replace preventive visits altogether. Doing so could truly spell disaster for your long-term oral health.
Here’s what you can avoid with routine appointments and what you can expect when visiting a dentist in Fox Chapel.
The Importance of Preventive Dentistry
When we talk about preventive dentistry, we’re talking about treatments proven to reduce your risk for dental disease in the future. This includes treatments to prevent tooth decay and gum disease, but it also has to do with treatments that help you manage conditions that may not even be related to your oral care habits.
For example, bruxism, also known as chronic teeth grinding, may not even show any symptoms while it’s happening. In fact, some people don’t realize they grind their teeth until a dentist tells them that their enamel is eroding. Routine visits help you catch this issue sooner and therefore give you the chance to address them directly. In this case, a custom-made nightguard protects teeth as you grind throughout the night.
Furthermore, routine visits give the dentist a chance to remove plaque from teeth that no at-home care, no matter how effective it is, can truly remove. This includes tartar, also known as calculus, which requires the steady hand of a professional using specialized tools designed to break down calcified plaque.
Systemic Disease You Can Prevent
Tooth decay and gum disease are the obvious offenders you want to avoid because they are the most common. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t many other conditions, including those unrelated to oral health, that could be discovered by a routine dental exam. A few of these conditions include:
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Oral cancer
- Diabetes
- Malnutrition
- Acid reflux
- Eating disorders
- Osteoporosis
For all of these conditions, getting a diagnosis earlier is a much better alternative to discovering it in a later stage when it’s already done significant damage.
What to Expect at Your Routine Appointment
During your routine checkup, the dentist will look over all your oral structures, including your teeth, gums, bite, inner tissue, tongue, throat and neck for early signs of dental and systemic disease. This may include X-rays, depending on how long it’s been since your last visit. Your routine appointment will also include a professional cleaning, which is typically followed by a fluoride treatment to provide further protection.
Another often overlooked benefit of routine visits is that you’ll also get the chance to ask questions you have, either to the dentist or one of his hygienists. Both are trained to answer all your questions related to oral health, so it’s worth taking advantage of their knowledge while you’re there!
Don’t let preventive visits go by the wayside. Protect yourself from dental and systemic disease and optimize your oral health by scheduling an appointment today!
About the Author
Dr. Ray Voller always takes whole-body wellness into account when developing unique treatment plans for patients. He understands that comprehensive dentistry solutions cannot be broken down into a one-size-fits-all solution, meaning your care is specifically catered to you every step of the way. To learn more about his preventive treatments, you can contact him through his website.