The Importance and Benefits of Regular Dental Examinations
Do you attend regular dental examinations with us here at the ConfiDental Clinic? We encourage all of our patients to come and see us at regular intervals, usually every six months for a thorough dental examination.
We much prefer to take this preventative approach towards dental care and your regular dental examinations are hugely important in maintaining good dental health and in preserving your natural teeth, we hope for life.
Why It’s Worth Keeping up with Your Regular Dental Examinations
The problem with delaying your examination is that often it’s easy to put off booking an appointment altogether, until perhaps you are faced with a dental problem. By this time you could need emergency dental care and may well be in discomfort. Keeping up with a regime of regular dental exams helps to reduce this risk and over time will almost certainly help you save money, not to mention you will probably end up spending less time in the dental chair.
Regular Dental Care Is More Cost-Effective
The reason why regular dental care is more cost-effective is because our dentists can easily pick up on any small problems, perhaps the first signs of a lesion in a tooth or any early indications of other issues like gum disease. This is far preferable, as you may not even have noticed anything is wrong, but treatment will be quicker, less invasive and cheaper.
Regular Dental Care Helps Preserve Your Teeth
Placing a small filling to repair a tiny lesion in the tooth helps to preserve the overall tooth structure. In comparison, leaving a filling to progress into a potentially painful and badly infected cavity leaves you at risk of requiring much more extensive treatment such as root canal therapy, and there is even the possibility of losing the tooth. We want to help your natural teeth last as long as possible and easiest way to do this is to make sure as much of their structure is preserved as possible.
We Can Detect Problems at a Stage when they are More Easily Treatable and Curable
Part of your regular dental examination will look at your gum health. People often overlook the need for healthy gums, but they support your teeth. Unfortunately gum disease or periodontal disease is a very common problem and it’s also known for causing few initial symptoms. This means the early signs are often overlooked or ignored, but can be easily detected by one of our dentists here at the ConfiDental Clinic. During the early stages, gum disease can cause bleeding and the gums will gradually begin to recede, creating deep pockets in between your gums and your teeth.
We can keep an eye on your gum health by carefully probing your gums to measure the depth of any pockets that may be developing. When detected early enough, gum disease is easily treatable and is completely curable. Often it’s simply a case of having your teeth professionally cleaned during a hygiene appointment and improving your oral care at home. In contrast, when gum disease is detected at a later stage it has often become chronic. This means it cannot be completely cured and may require ongoing treatment to control it. What’s even worse is that advanced gum disease can often lead to tooth loss and may affect your overall health. It is so much easier just to come and see us every six months and if you do have any signs of problems then we can work with you to restore your gum health.
An Oral Cancer Screening Could Potentially Save Your Life
An oral cancer screening is an important part of your regular dental examination. This is a quick and non-invasive examination during which our dentist will thoroughly examine the inside of your mouth, including your cheeks, lips, the roof and floor of your mouth and your tongue. They are looking for any colour changes or changes to the texture of these tissues that could require further investigation. One of the main problems with oral cancer is late diagnosis and it’s highly likely that your dentist will be the only medical professional who regularly looks inside your mouth.
Our Dentists Also Look for Other Problems
Your dental examination is extremely thorough, as we also check for signs of other dental problems that may be affecting your teeth and your jaw joints (temporomandibular joints). One common problem is called bruxism and it is caused by teeth grinding and clenching. This is a nocturnal habit so you may be unaware you have it, but it can cause significant damage to your teeth and jaws. Bruxism can wear down your teeth, chipping and cracking them and the pressure can inflame your temporomandibular joints, causing a painful disorder called TMD or temporomandibular disorder. Early detection of bruxism will save your teeth and your jaw joints, and this condition is often easily treated by simply wearing a custom-made night splint to prevent clenching and grinding.
It’s Your Chance to Ask Us Questions
Everyone here at ConfiDental Clinic is very easy to talk to and very approachable, and we have lots of useful knowledge so please feel free to pick our brains. Our dental team is here to help you understand your dental health and we welcome questions. If there is something you would like to know about how to look after your teeth and gums, perhaps some advice on how to brush or floss or any other dental problem, then please ask us.
Patient education is hugely important to us and we want you to have all the knowledge you need to look after your teeth. If you do need any type of treatment, we will go out of our way to explain it as clearly as possible, but we do understand that sometimes it can be a lot to take in, so let us know if there’s something that doesn’t quite make sense.
Get the Satisfaction of Having a Healthy Smile
Regular dental examinations, combined with good oral care at home, are the easiest way to maintain a healthy mouth. Your dental visit won’t take very long, and hopefully we will send you on your way for another six months. You’ll have all the satisfaction of knowing your dental health is the very best it can be.
Are you overdue for a dental check-up? Our dentists are all very gentle, especially with someone who hasn’t seen a dentist for a while or who might be feeling a bit nervous.
To celebrate the relocation of Confidental Clinic we are delighted to be able to offer half-price dental examination appointments until December 31st 2016, so why not book one right now?