Be honest now… how long has it been since your last dentist appointment?
How many months (or years) have you been putting it off? If the last time you saw the inside of a dentist's office was more than 6 months ago, you're overdue.
And the longer you go without getting a checkup, the more you'll dread it and the more likely you are to have serious issues that need to be addressed.
In case you need any more convincing, read on to find out why you shouldn't put off your next dental appointment any longer.
Professional Clean
No matter how faithful a brusher and flosser you are, there's no way you can clean your teeth as well as your dentist or dental hygienist will. Our professional tools will remove harmful tartar that builds up on your teeth (yes, even if you brush and floss well twice a day every day). Tartar is what plaque becomes if it's left to hang around, and it's impossible for you to remove tartar on your own. If tartar is allowed to remain, that inevitably causes tooth decay, which can lead to infections and all kinds of dangerous oral health issues that you want to avoid. Visiting a dentist a couple times a year insures that your teeth will stay tartar-free and healthy.
Unfelt Problems
The thing about many dental problems is that by the time you even feel them at all, you're already in trouble. But a professional dentist is able to detect these issues before you know they're there and well before they become a more serious problem that requires extensive procedures or cause long term damage.
Immune Boost
If you haven't been to the dentist in a long while, it's possible that you frequently have oral infections that you don't even know about. And when that happens, your poor immune system is working hard to fight them off, thereby weakening its power to fight off other kinds of infections, like colds and flu. Keep your mouth healthy all the time and your immune system can have full strength to keep the rest of your body safe and healthy.
Dentist Detection
As I like to say, the mouth can be like the window to your health. You may not know this, but dentists can detect many health issues merely by taking a look at your mouth. A dental professional may be able to see warnings signs of all kinds of serious health issues like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. So when you get your teeth checked you're also increasing the likelihood of detecting other problems that need to be treated.
Avoid Serious Interventions
In my experience as a dentist, I haven't met too many people who love visiting my office. But I think it's safe to say that everyone in the world would prefer a routine dental checkup and cleaning to getting a cavity filled or getting a root canal.So even though the dentist's chair might not be your favorite place to be - and even if you have all the latest fancy dental hygiene tools - you should go at least a couple times a year so you can avoid having to get a more serious treatment. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
You Abuse ‘Em, You Lose ‘Em
You only get one set of adult teeth and it's up to you how long you keep them and what shape they're in as you age. The reason that so many older folks have to get things like dentures and bridges is because they didn't take care of their teeth properly when they were younger. Though being a senior citizen with dentures isn't the end of the world, I think we can all agree that having your own choppers is a much better way to go.
Going to get your pearly whites looked at may never be something that you look forward to in life, but it will always be something that you must do to stay healthy.
Even if you've been putting it off for a couple years or more, you should remember that it's never too late to do the right thing for yourself and your health.
