6 Reasons to Visit the Dentist Besides Teeth Cleaning
When you go for a dental check-up, your dentist may spend the majority of the time cleaning your teeth. However, several other motives should spur your visits, even if your dentist does not mention them. See a dental professional so they can check for cavities and gum disease, review oral hygiene habits, protect your overall health, and more. If you haven’t received a check-up in a while, turn to Hillcrest Dental for professional general dentistry services.
Hillcrest offers excellent care and top-of-the-line treatments to folks throughout Piedmont, VA. We provide general, cosmetic, and oral surgery services to support our patients and their smiles. Moreover, our family-friendly atmosphere and flexible scheduling options make visiting our office a breeze. To learn more or to request an appointment, visit our website today!
Below, we list several reasons to visit the dentist besides teeth cleaning:
1. Check for Cavities, Tooth Decay, and Gum Disease
During teeth cleaning, your dentist has the opportunity to check for cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease. While these issues often signal their presence with visible signs and/or pain, they don’t start that way. Dental professionals know the indicators that these issues create when developing and can stop them in their tracks.
In this way, routine dental appointments help to preserve long-term oral health. Moreover, visits allow your dentist to check for various types of dental trauma, which may not always be obvious.
2. Detect Early-Stage Oral Cancer
Regular dentist visits can also help catch serious diseases—such as oral cancer—and conditions in early stages. Such checks are especially important if you consume alcohol or tobacco, as doing so puts you at greater risk for cancer. Treatment of such conditions in their initial stages can neutralize their danger.
3. Examine Fillings
Dental fillings—one of the most common forms of cosmetic dentistry—require professional oversight and management. People tend to forget about the problems that fillings alleviated, but the problems still exist. A dental professional can check your fillings and note whether they need replacement, even if the fillings appear fine to you.
4. Review Oral Hygiene
Virtually everyone receives a basic education in oral hygiene during primary school. Nevertheless, in addition to the “best practices” taught in health classes nationwide, some personalized tips can help you care for your oral health.
If you suffer from TMJ pain or use custom cosmetic braces, your hygiene habits require fine-tuning. Ask your dentist how to protect your teeth and treat underlying problems. They can recommend specific methods that general information leaves unmentioned.
5. Protect Your Overall Health
It’s easy to fixate on the health of teeth, but their condition affects the rest of your body. Bad teeth can make a balanced diet difficult to maintain or interfere with your sleep schedule. Thus, oral health directly factors into overall health.
Further links exist: for instance, research links gum disease to heart disease and diabetes. Moreover, poor dental health can lead to sleep apnea, in which breathing is interrupted during sleep. Your dentist can provide solutions to such problems.
6. Protect Your Family’s Oral Health
Finally, your regular dental visits benefit others. Specifically, they help to protect the oral health of your family members, as your good habits rub off on them. Indeed, we recommend that families schedule their visits together, ensuring that all receive the critical care that they need.
General Dentistry Services Available Now to Piedmont, VA, Residents!
You can enjoy all the perks of strong oral care by reaching out to Hillcrest Dental for general dentistry services. Our practice has served the Piedmont, VA, region for several decades, and we look forward to continuing our legacy of smiles. Schedule your routine dental visit today and help maintain your health as well as your family’s wellbeing. Call us today at (434) 973-2224 or visit our website and request an appointment.
