It should come as no surprise that taking care of your dental health is important. Ideally, you should visit the dentist every six months for a dental exam and professional teeth cleaning. Despite this common knowledge, people often place a lower priority on visiting the dentist than on other areas of their health care. This stands to reason, as oral health problems are often subtle, and therefore, might feel less urgent than those that are more immediate and pronounced.
Nevertheless, your dental health is an extremely important component of your health overall. It is critical that you visit the dentist regularly to ensure that existing issues are caught early and potential issues are prevented.
Below are a few reasons why you should not put off scheduling your routine dental visits.
Full-mouth Functionality
The durable nature of human teeth allows us to eat what we like, from dense nuts to tough steaks and everything in between. However, when the health of your teeth erodes, it becomes more difficult to continue eating this way. What’s more, if the quality of your teeth continues to decline, you may wind up needing one or more extractions. This will not only affect what you can eat, but it can also impact your speech and lead to more serious issues with your gums and jawbone.
By visiting your dentist every six months, you can improve your chances of maintaining your mouth’s functionality.
Mental Health & Self-esteem
When your teeth are not cared for, there can be consequences that affect how you perceive yourself.
For example, tooth discoloration can make you embarrassed to display your smile – as can missing teeth if your oral health reaches the point where you need a tooth extracted. Gum diseases such as gingivitis can lead to bad breath, which can make you feel self-conscious in social settings.
Your smile is one of the biggest components of a first impression. Taking care of your oral health will keep you feeling confident about your smile and appearance.
Further Health Complications
Gum disease can affect your breath and create the potential for tooth loss. Furthermore, it also carries the risk of more severe issues with your overall health. For example, gum disease has been linked to conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, respiratory disease and arthritis. In fact, it is one of the most prominent chronic inflammatory diseases in the world. Yet, it is not discussed nearly as much as other, more common diseases. While this information can be unsettling, it is within your power to help mitigate the risk of gum disease and the potential consequences thereof by keeping up with your routine dentist visits.