All dentists remind their patients to visit for regular check-ups twice a year, even if nothing is wrong.
However, it’s a fact that not everyone voluntarily visits their dentist for this care and according to Freshdental.co.uk, this is one of the most basic, yet damaging, mistakes when it comes to dental health.
Whilst routine check-ups typically only involve cleaning, allowing your dentist to assess your oral health, these regular visits can save you horrendous problems with undiagnosed diseases.
The following facts will illustrate the importance of routine visits.
Dental Visits Are Not Simply About How Fine Your Dental Health Is
Many patients only go to the dentist when something terrible has gone wrong. It may be an impacted tooth, a decaying molar or something similar. However, often by the time the problems have developed they are already too far advanced to remedy.
According to The Independent, “While some with healthy teeth can wait as long as two years for a once-over, people who choose to skip regular check-ups could suffer rapid deterioration of their oral health – and may not even realise anything is wrong.”
Many ailments, including cancer, are extremely difficult to detect without a dentist’s help, so it makes sense to keep your regular appointments.
What Can Go Wrong When You Skip a Check-up?
Depending on how long it has been since your last dental inspection, you may have developed a plethora of unwanted mouth diseases.
- development of small cavities in the teeth;
- gradual destruction of the core and enamel of teeth due to decay;
- early onset of undiagnosed cancer-causing mouth ulcers.
- development of various types of gum diseases depending on the level of oral hygiene;
- gum inflammation, swollen jaw, cavities and tooth loss.
- Orthodontic health problems;
- Severe damage to the root core necessitating root canal procedures;
- Gum recession and implant failure.
- Cysts in jaw area;
- Permanent tartar build-up, requiring scaling to manage.
- Overcrowded and misaligned teeth requiring major mouth and jaw reconstruction;
- Dental hypersensitivity.
Even if you have the most beautiful and fine set of teeth, you need your dentist to regularly check that all is well. Twice-yearly visits shouldn’t be too much effort, especially now that you know that the trade-off is well worth it.