Everybody wants a bright and beautiful smile, but it’s important to visit the dentist to maintain that smile. If you have been putting off your dental checkup because you are afraid of dentists or think that it’s unnecessary, think again. Your oral health is important for your overall health. It’s important to maintain good oral hygiene, but regular brushing and flossing may not be enough at times. The American Dental Association advises people to visit a dentist twice a year for valid reasons that we will discuss in this post. Let’s get started!
1. Prevent Plaque, Tartar, and Cavities
As mentioned earlier, brushing and flossing every day might not clean your mouth completely. Some unreachable areas in your mouth can become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria, which could result in the formation of plaque. When plaque builds us, it hardens into tartar that will require professional cleaning to remove. If you ignore your regular dental checkups, the tartar will start feeding on your enamel, creating cavities in your teeth. Cavities and decaying teeth can cause further medical problems and lead to dental deformities. Filling cavities requires an experienced dentist because some dentists fill the cavities using mercury amalgams, which are harmful to the brain and kidneys. Silver fillings are a better and healthier option that expert dentists use to fill teeth cavities.
2. Oral Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
For the ones who ignore their teeth and oral hygiene, oral cancer is a life-threatening risk to worry about. Fortunately, dentists can easily detect growing cancer cells in the mouth at its early stage. The San Antonio-based dentists at Ariadentalsa.com explain that only a medical professional will be able to check the mouth properly for any signs of inflammations and other sensitivities. So, if you feel the slightest irritation in your mouth for no apparent reason, it best to get it checked by a dentist. If you ignore a possible symptom of oral cancer, thinking it is a regular ulcer, you might be making the treatment and recovery journey much harder on yourself.
3. Gum Diseases
Bad eating habits can cause tartar and plaque to build up in your mouth, resulting in tooth decay and gum diseases. When tartar builds in your mouth, it may result in oral infections, such as Gingivitis, which causes the teeth to separate from the gums due to the decomposition of the tissues holding them in place. It is a slow and progressive condition that people usually become aware of it when it’s too late. To tackle this gum disease, dentists have to perform oral surgery to treat and clean the mouth thoroughly. One may need to undergo several sessions to treat Gingivitis and other oral diseases effectively.
4. Bad Oral Habits
We often develop bad habits that directly or indirectly affect our oral hygiene. Some of these habits are a regular part of our lives. These include smoking, eating sugar-packed food, teeth grinding, nail-biting, ice chewing, over consumption of red wine and coffee, and more. If you have trouble quitting your bad habits, at least make sure you reach out to a dentist and get a proper dental and oral checkup to mitigate the possible risks.
When you visit a dentist regularly, you reduce your chances of developing oral diseases. If you want to achieve optimal oral health, you will not only need to brush and floss regularly, but you also have to visit the dentist periodically to check for possible signs of damage or disease in your teeth and gums. While this post covers only four reasons, there are plenty more that make it crucial to visit a dentist regularly.
John Smith is a Digital Marketing Consultant with more than 8 years of experience in SEO, SEM, SMO, blogging, etc having wide knowledge base into content marketing.