The keystone of preventive dentistry is regular dental exams incorporating professional cleanings to minimize and avoid oral health issues. Regular dental exams and cleaning can play a vital role in keeping your teeth and gums healthy.
Having a healthy mouth helps protect the rest of your body from severe medical disorders. Oral infections spread to other parts of the body, including vital organs, gradually. Monitoring your dental health regularly helps dentists detect signs of existing issues with your overall health that may otherwise go unnoticed.
The financial benefits of dental exams and cleanings further underscore the importance of this procedure. If you ensure your oral health is in prime condition, you can avoid expensive dental procedures later.
How Dental Exams Benefit You?
During the six-monthly dental exam, your dentist looks for signs of tooth decay and any resulting cavities. Tooth decay and cavities can infect your dental pulp, the soft tissue at the center of your tooth spreading to its roots and beyond.
A warning sign of tooth decay is the accumulation of plaque and tartar, resulting in gum disease. However, your dental exam isn’t merely about checking for tooth decay and cavities. Dental exams detect many other issues, including:
- Oral Cancer: Dentists identify most cancers of the mouth or throat during a comprehensive dental exam. The survival rate for cancer is higher when the condition is detected in the early stages.
- Gum Disease: Deep pockets between your teeth and gums indicate the periodontal disease is present in your mouth. Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss, and approximately 70 percent of adults in America develop gum disease at some stage during their lives.
- Various Medical Conditions: Your dentist checks whether you have halitosis resulting from multiple issues, including lung problems, diabetes, or a yeast infection of the mouth.
What Are the Benefits of Dental Cleanings?
A dentist teeth cleaning eliminates bacterial buildup besides plaque and tartar, which develop continuously even if you brush and floss regularly. Special tools are used by dental professionals to remove the plaque and tartar deposits gently. When plaque hardens to tartar, you need help from a dental professional for the removal.
The dental cleaning includes flossing between your teeth and polishing to remove stains from your teeth to leave your mouth feeling minty fresh. If you have plaque buildup below the gum line, the dentist can fix the issue by scaling a unique form of cleaning routinely used on patients with gum disease.
Professional cleanings help prevent cavities and tooth loss besides gum disease while enabling you to have fresher breath and a brighter smile.
Dental Exams and Cleanings Prevent Oral Health Problems before the Start
Good oral health gives you an attractive smile and can also help keep the rest of your body healthy. Dentist 28050 recommends six-monthly dental cleanings and exams as sufficient. However, the condition of your oral health determines whether you may need more frequent visits to the dentist.
Visiting your dentist every six months for cleanings and exams may not be an appointment you look forward to, but it is the most essential. Regular dental exams and cleanings help stop dental issues before they start.
Dental exams help prevent tooth decay and gum disease, saving you money in the long run by helping avoid expensive treatments. The exams are also beneficial to diagnose problems with your overall health keeping you free from various medical conditions that usually appear in your mouth.
Professional cleanings help get rid of stubborn stains on your teeth and keep your tooth enamel more robust by providing fluoride treatments. Most importantly, the cleanings leave you with minty fresh breath.
Any dental practice focusing on preventive dentistry helps safeguard your oral and overall health with comprehensive dental exams and cleanings. They also offer you preventive care treatments like topical fluoride applications and dental sealants if suitable for you.
You can take advantage of dental exams and cleanings by:
- Brushing your teeth twice every day with fluoride toothpaste and flossing at least once.
- You can use a fluoride mouthwash to have a cleaner mouth.
- Maintain a healthy and balanced diet and avoid snacking frequently.
- Avoid smoking or using other forms of tobacco.
- Continue visiting your dentist or regular dental exams and cleanings without fail.
Follow the recommendations in this blog to benefit from the importance of dental exams and cleanings for your oral and overall health.