You brush and floss your teeth. You control your intake of sugar-rich pastries, and starchy breads. You make sure that you have sufficient fluoride to strengthen your teeth. Why do you still have to go to the dentist for checkups and dental cleaning? Here are some of the top reasons:
1. Prevents cancer
When you visit your dentist for your regular check up and cleaning, he also does some tests to screen you for oral cancer. These tests make early diagnosis possible, thereby increasing your chances of survival.
2. Prevents gum disease
Gum disease infects the bone and gum tissues that prop up your teeth, and keep them in place. The disease can lead to tooth loss. However, if your dentist is able to diagnose gum disease during its onset (gingivitis), he can treat it immediately, and reverse its effects.
If you do not visit your dentist regularly, you may not be able to tell that you have gum disease. The disease can progress, and become more severe (periodontitis), a stage where the disease becomes more difficult to treat.
3. Prevents dental caries
Plaque, the whitish film of bacteria that accumulate on your teeth, is the number one cause of dental caries. It manufactures acids that eat at the tooth enamel, producing cavities. Your dentist can clean your teeth intensively through scaling or root planing to remove even the most stubborn form of plaque.
4. Make your smile bright
Do you drink tea or coffee regularly? Do you smoke? Substances like tea, coffee, tobacco, and nicotine promote tooth discoloration. Your dentist can remove deep and obstinate stains so that you have whiter teeth and a brighter smile.
5. Make your breath clean and fresh
You prevent halitosis or bad breath by taking good care of your teeth. When you get your teeth professionally cleaned by your dentist, you get a deeper clean and a fresher, sweeter-smelling breath.
6. Maintain general sense of well-being
Research shows that having healthy and problem-free teeth adds to your general state of wellness. Moreover, dental cleaning tends to bring down your risk for health conditions, like stroke and heart disease. Your dentist can also use a routine dental exam to detect the initial stages of many diseases that, when not detected early enough, may become life-threatening.
7. Save money
Many dental health insurance plans require low or even no coinsurance or copayments for oral checkups and dental cleaning. When you go for regular dental visits and cleaning twice a year, you safeguard your teeth and gums from decay. You circumvent the need for complicated and expensive dental treatments. In the long run, you stand to save money.
8. Identify dental problems for early treatment
If you get dental cleaning every six months or so, your dentist can identify signs of problems early on. He can treat these problems right away before they become worse. If you fail to make regular visits to your dentist, these problems may escalate without your knowledge. When you start to feel severe pain and have no choice but to consult with your dentist, he may not be able to repair the damage through the use of simple interventions. He may not have any option but to do serious and expensive procedures like do a root canal, cut your gums open, or remove your teeth.
