Why You Should Never Skip Your Dental Check-Up

Even though many of us might think that our teeth are in good shape, regular visits to the family dentist are very important. Regular care and prevention of diseases in the mouth are the best possible care you can give your teeth. Tackling problems early on will save a lot of bother in the long run – it might save your tooth from an extraction or root canal therapy. It is important to visit your dentist at least once, but ideally twice, a year to get your teeth checked and cleaned.

Why are check ups so important?

Some patients who are at higher risk of problems may be requested to have their teeth and gums checked more frequently.

The key role of a check up is to look for any problems that you might have with your teeth, gums and the oral cavity in general. By having them at regular intervals, and with good oral care at home, any problems that we find are likely to be treatable with a relatively minor procedure. If you miss appointments, these problems are almost certain to worsen and any treatment you might eventually need to have are likely to be more extensive.

The following are some of the things that our Tower Dental dentist team will look for when they examine your mouth.

Tooth decay

Most of our patients are likely, at some point, to have been told that they need a filling due to tooth decay. Some may have probably expected this but ignored early symptoms such as a slightly throbbing tooth, hoping that they were wrong. In many cases though, we detect small areas of decay that are causing no discomfort at all to the patient, but, left another six months, would almost certainly do so. As we detect these small areas of decay early, they can usually be treated with a filling, often quite a small one. These can now also be provided in a natural looking white filling material to make them less visible.

Checking Beneath The Surfaces.

Most of the problems affecting our teeth are visible on the surface, and you can even notice them by just looking in the mirror. A major part of visiting a dentist every six months is getting your jaw and teeth x-rayed so that they can identify what is happening beneath the surface.

Some common problems include impacted teeth as seen with the wisdom teeth that may be painful when they emerge. You could also be suffering from jaw injuries and bone swelling among others. All these things are hard to notice without an x-ray, and they could be the cause of other problems with your teeth. These problems with the jaw and tooth structure are major issues, and a dentist can recommend the best corrective procedures for treating them as soon as possible.

Gum issues

Although most of you will look after your teeth reasonably well, some of you may do less so with your gums. This is unfortunate as good gum health is as important as healthy teeth. Indeed, if gum disease is not detected and treated early enough, there is a real risk of tooth loss as the supporting bone becomes damaged and less able to secure the tooth in place. In most cases, any instances of gum disease that we detect can be managed through treatment and guidance by our hygienist using non invasive methods. Where the gums have been badly infected though, you may require a more invasive treatment known as ‘root scaling’ or a ‘deep clean’. This has to be carried out by a suitably qualified dentist and not the hygienist.

General oral health

Whilst teeth and gums are our main areas of concern, the fact that we examine the oral cavity at close quarters puts us in an excellent position to see the soft tissues of the mouth including the cheeks and tongue. If we have any concerns about the condition of these, such as the detection of sores or lumps, we are likely to refer you to your GP for further investigation. In most cases, these will probably turn out to be non serious issues, but it is important that you do have this investigated further so that any more serious issues, such as mouth cancer, can be treated as soon as possible, where present.

A dental check up may not seem like the most important thing in your life, but skipping yours could lead to a ruined smile if you don’t rearrange. Please make sure that you do your best to keep up to date with yours. For more information about booking an appointment at our Balwyn practice, please call Tower Dental on (03) 9817 7144