May is National Dental Care Month! A new addition to the calendar of National Days and Months, National Dental Care Month was declared by a pair of dentists in Illinois in 2018. Although it doesn’t have as much of an official status as October being National Dental Hygiene Month or February as National Children’s Dental Health Month, we figure it’s still a nice chance to talk about the importance of preventative dental care in protecting your oral health and whole-body wellbeing!
Why Is Preventative Dental Healthcare Important?
What’s that old saying about stitch in time saves nine? Just as for other medical concerns, timely dental care can help you avoid unnecessary pain, expense, and risk for more serious problems. Routine preventative dental visits usually include a cleaning and careful monitoring of your hard and soft tissue with x-rays and gum measurements. In general, we recommend that patients with good oral health and low risks visit every six months.
In some cases, we recommend patients visit more frequently. For example, if you build heavy stain, plaque, or tartar, your cleanings will be more effective if you see our hygienists more often. Patients who have active gum disease, or who have permanently lost bone volume due to previous gum disease, should also keep up with more frequent dental health exams.
Patients with systemic health problems like diabetes or a smoking habit likewise benefit from more frequent visits, since they’re at higher risk for developing serious oral health problems. Believe it or not, pregnancy can also bump you into a higher risk category! Many pregnant patients benefit from getting their teeth cleaned every three or four months until they deliver.
Preventative Dental Care Saves You Money
One of the main reasons patients report avoiding dental care is worry about the expense. We understand that finances can be a major concern. That’s why our team will help you maximize your dental insurance benefits and may be able to help you find third-party dental financing or establish a payment plan that works for you. Remember that in many cases, your dental insurance will cover a larger portion of preventative dental healthcare than restorative. Routine visits can help you get the most out of your dental insurance!
However, it’s important to keep in mind that preventative dental care and timely treatments will always cost less than waiting for an emergency! Cavities only get bigger and more expensive the longer you wait to treat them. Cleanings cost less when you get them regularly, versus waiting for tons of tartar to build up. Getting your dental health under control and maintaining it is one of the best ways to save money on your oral health.
Good Oral Health Prevents Irreversible Damage
Preventative dental care can help you avoid many oral health problems entirely and minimize impacts of problems should they start to develop. At each of your routine dental visits, we’ll collect diagnostic information, usually either gum measurements or x-rays, or photos and comprehensive observations. These diagnostics will help us recognize any potential problems before they start to create more serious issues.
Some oral health problems are reversible. Gingivitis, for example, can be completely reversed with timely dental cleanings and good home care. But if you skip cleanings for too long and allow your gum disease to progress, you’ll start to lose the bone tissue that supports your teeth. While we can still remove the deposit, reverse the active inflammation in your gums, and prevent it from getting worse, bone damage is irreversible. Likewise, cavities and wear on your teeth both cause you to lose enamel. While we can repair much of the damage with fillings or other treatments, once enamel is gone, it’s gone forever. That’s why early treatment is always the best way to prevent worse issues.
Preventative Dental Care Can Protect Your Overall Health
Your dental health can have impacts on other areas of your body that might not even seem related! Headaches, upper back pain, and stiff neck can all stem from tooth problems. Likewise, sinus issues and earaches can actually come from issues with your teeth!
Patients with severe dental health problems such as missing and painful teeth or ill-fitting dentures frequently suffer with nutritional deficiencies due to difficulty biting and chewing. Gum disease can strain your immune system and has been linked to tons of other health concerns like heart disease and pancreatic cancer.
Your oral health can have huge impacts throughout your body. Missing and failing teeth can also seriously impact your social life and even job prospects. While investing in preventative, routine dental healthcare may feel like an extravagance for some patients, we cannot overstate its importance in helping you enjoy better quality of life and better overall wellbeing, physically and psychologically.
Simple Steps for Protecting Your Dental Health
So, what can you do to improve your dental health and keep it that way?
- Take back control of your dental health. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen a dentist, it can be hard to get back in the swing of things. Many patients avoid going back to the dentist after a long absence because they feel embarrassed or ashamed of the state of their teeth, or they worry about getting bad news. Remember, it’s never to late to improve the situation. Even if you need all your teeth replaced, with today’s dental technology you can get full mouth dental implants that will look and feel completely natural. Taking that first step back into the dental office can be hard, but we’re a 100% no judgement zone. We’re here to help you live a better life through compassionate dental care.
- Commit to following through with your complete treatment plan. Once you’ve made it back into the office, commit to following through with the recommended treatments in as timely a fashion as you can. If you have concerns about dental anxiety, talk to us! We can always help with dental sedation to keep you comfortable through any procedure, and even have drill-free fillings that can eliminate many dental anxiety triggers. As stated above, we may also be able to help you navigate dental financing. We’re here to connect our patients to the care they need, whatever it takes.
- Follow up with each recommended care appointment. Once we’ve got your dental health stabilized, keep it that way! Following up with the recommended routine care appointments is the best way to protect your investment and make all that work last as long as possible. Remember, even if your hygienist recommends being seen every three months to start out, you may be able to work toward longer intervals between visits as your health continues to improve.
- Practice excellent home care habits. Excellent dental home care is the number one way to reverse dental health problems, protect your health, and ensure the best longevity for any dental work you’ve had done.
- Smile! Showing off a beautiful smile can help you feel more confident and let your personality shine. We want you to love your smile for a lifetime!
We’re Here to Help Protect Your Health!
Our number one priority as your dental office in Orlando, FL is to help you enjoy better quality of life through improved dental health. Whether that means peace of mind in protecting already great oral health or helping you with full mouth reconstruction to rebuild your oral health entirely, we can help. We want to keep you smiling, Orlando!
