The goal of preventative dental care is to preserve the health, function, and appearance of your teeth, mouth and smile. Routine appointments like dental exams and cleanings may seem boring. But needing expensive treatments for tooth decay or gum disease is not the kind of excitement that you need in your life. Protecting your oral health will save both time and money in the long run.
Let’s have a look at some of the best ways that you can take action to prevent the need for unnecessary dental treatments and procedures down the road.
Oral Hygiene
Proper dental health begins at home with your oral hygiene routine. By now, you should know that you need to do things like:
- Brush twice daily at a minimum
- Floss your teeth once a day
- Eat a nutritious diet that supports the health of your teeth and gums
If you are not meeting this standard, now is the time to get back on track with a regular oral hygiene routine. Together with dental exam and cleaning appointments, this gives you your best chance of avoiding costly dental procedures to correct problems like tooth decay and gum disease.
The thing you want to avoid is allowing things like sugar and food particles to remain in your mouth, which feeds the oral bacteria that cause tooth decay and periodontal disease.
If you are not at home, and are eating and drinking, you may not have your toothbrush around. Be sure to at least rinse your mouth out with some water after your snacks and meals to lower the burden of bacteria-feeding substances in your mouth. When you return home, resume your oral hygiene routine as normal.
Dental Exams and Cleanings
Although at-home oral hygiene is extremely important, it is not always enough. You may miss a spot or two, or slack up with your routine at home. This allows plaque a chance to form and accumulate. A regular dental cleaning appointment allows your dental hygienist to remove this plaque so that it doesn’t have a chance to harden into tartar and eventually develop into gum disease, which would otherwise require costly dental work.
Similarly, routine dental exam appointments allow your dental team to inspect your mouth, teeth and gums. They are often able to detect problems before you can because they know what to look for. When dental problems are caught at an early stage, they can often be dealt with using simpler and less expensive procedures. Otherwise, momentum builds and problems become harder to correct.
Schedule Your Appointment
Do you need more information about preventative dental care? Or do you need to schedule an appointment or consultation? Please contact any of our offices today.
