Developing the habit of seeing a dentist regularly is just as important as seeing the family physician. In both cases, some of the care you receive is routine and aimed at ensuring that you are healthy. At other times, the purpose is to treat a specific condition. If you’ve ever wondered when people choose to see family dentists, here are some of the events that motivate them to call and make appointments.
Time For An Annual Dental Exam
Everyone should undergo an annual dental examination. While some see no reason to call a dentist unless something’s wrong, that’s not the attitude you want to cultivate in yourself or the example that you want to set for others in the household. Annual exams can do quite a bit to ensure that your teeth and gums remain in the best possible condition.
Exams of this type make it easier to spot any emerging issues before they can develop into more serious ones. Finding a small cavity and treating it now allows you to avoid an extraction down the road. In like manner, many dentists include oral cancer screenings in their annual exams. That’s important since early detection and prompt treatment help to improve the odds of successfully beating any type of cancer.
Your Teeth Need Cleaning
Even those who are in the habit of brushing after meals and using floss several times a week are in need of professional teeth cleanings once or twice a year. Those cleanings help to remove residue that can collect along the gum line and in between the teeth. Whatever your own efforts leave behind, the cleanings help to remove the rest.
Cleanings are another proactive dental approach that helps to minimize future threats to your dental health. By removing that remaining residue, there’s less chance of damage to the enamel, infections, and even the beginning of tooth decay. If you’re serious about keeping your teeth for the rest of your life, cleanings are a great way to tip the odds in your favor.
Your Gums are Sore
You woke up and noticed that your gums felt a little sore. Was it something that you ate, or could it be an early sign of a developing infection? In fact, the soreness could be due to several factors. The only way to know for sure is to see a dentist.
Instead of taking an over-the-counter product for the pain and shrugging it off, let your dentist know what’s happening. A quick exam will confirm if there is an infection or some other factor that needs attention. If so, the treatment is likely to be one that brings relief and eliminates the problem quickly.
You’ve Chipped or Cracked a Tooth
Damaging one or more teeth can happen to anyone. Biting into something that’s harder than you think will do the trick. Taking a direct hit to the mouth while playing a sport may mean teeth that are chipped, cracked, or sometimes loosened. Whatever the case, you need dental care before the situation can get any worse.
Instead of living with the damaged tooth, see a dentist as soon as possible. There are things that can be done to repair a damaged tooth, and even to help loose teeth settle back into the sockets properly. See this as one more way of increasing the odds of keeping your teeth for more years.
There’s Pain Around the Root of a Tooth
There doesn’t seem to be any swelling, and the gum appears to be the usual color. Even so, there’s a pain that seems to be coming from the area around the tooth root. Could it be that you have an abscessed tooth that’s not yet showing any outward signs? To be sure, you need to see a dentist.
Depending on what’s causing the pain, it may be necessary for a dental professional to make use of root canal therapy to correct the issue. Once it’s done and the healing is complete, there will be no more pain.
The bottom line is that your teeth deserve attention on a regular basis. They also should have attention when anything seems to be out of the ordinary. Now is the time to get into the habit of seeing a dentist regularly. Over the years, it won’t be difficult to see why making the best use of this type of care was a wise decision.
