As a dentist his axiom “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” prove themselves to be spot on all of the time.
Preventative dental care should be just that, preventative. Routine cleanings every six months are needed to stay on top of maintaining your oral health, but it’s not always just about getting your teeth cleaned. During each visit, the dentist provides a comprehensive oral exam in which you teeth, gums and old dental work is checked to make sure it is functioning properly. Also we check all of the other oral tissues for infections, growths and cancers. This is considered preventative dentistry as well. While not every dental emergency can obviously be predicted, there are some scenarios that could be avoided. You are doing a favor to yourself if you are able to invest in the dental work needed when it is presented to you.
This past week we had a few unfortunate friends that came in with some serious problems that we diagnosed before. Regretfully, they didn’t follow up on getting the work done and had some terrible consequences.
Putting off important work may not only cause future tooth pain, but also financial pain. It is more beneficial to your wallet to stay on top of dental work than to wait because you may end up with bigger problems in the long run. A tooth that may be restorable at one point could be deemed non restorable at a later date.
Plus you run the risk of pain if the thing ‘blows up on you’.
The other liabilities are all of the risks associated with going around with infection that you can’t feel.
We routinely find dead, abscessed teeth that neither we nor the patient knew about. There is no medical professional that will tell you that it’s OK to go around with infection in your head. Infected upper teeth almost always sponsor sinus infections. Lower teeth can cause infections in your throat and ears. These things might present themselves as mild headaches or sore throats, but don’t have to be symptomatic at all.
If you have an infected tooth or gum infection you are accepting a 5X’s greater chance of stroke or other cardiovascular accident. Yeah, we’re talking death here!
And then there is the benefit of the oral exam/cancer screening. The reason that oral cancer is so deadly is that it is diagnosed all-too-often in advanced stages. This piece of mind alone is worth the trip to the dentist!
We are aware that it is never part of our job to tell a patient what MUST get done, but rather inform them of all the possible decisions and treatment options they have available to them. We are here to answer all your questions and give our best recommendation on the situation. So don’t delay come in to get your ounce of prevention today! Call 610-525-5497 to schedule an appointment to visit us.
