How vulnerable is your smile to problems like tooth decay and gum disease? If it has been a while since your last dental cleaning and examination, a professional checkup can prevent oral threats and detect any existing issues before they become worse. While your hygiene practices at home form the basis for healthy smiles, your dentist removes bacterial deposits that cannot be treated with your brush or floss. This is why you should support your daily routine with semiannual checkups.
At your Prairie Village, KS, dentist’s office, we recommend regular cleaning and examination appointments to support the health and beauty of your smile. By professionally cleaning your teeth, we prevent the buildup of bacteria that contribute to tooth decay and gum disease. Examinations provide the opportunity to detect common signs of trouble that you may not notice on your own at home. When you maintain a regular schedule of appointments, you access best practices for preserving long-term dental health.
Preventing Dental Problems Before They Present
Do you really need to visit the dentist when your teeth feel perfectly clean? Only scheduling a cleaning when you suspect an oral problem can be a huge mistake. This is because routine checkups can detect symptoms long before you notice them at home and provide a more conservative treatment that maintains your healthy condition. For example, gum disease is reversible when caught at its earliest stage. But when it reaches the jawbone, the infection becomes permanent and must be treated for life with periodontal therapy. Regular visits could help you catch this condition early instead of waiting until painful symptoms of a permanent condition appear.
Similarly, the earlier we detect tooth decay, the more of your natural tooth we are able to save. Waiting additional months or years to treat a cavity could necessitate the placement of a crown or full extraction when a dental filling would have sufficed earlier.
Examinations Help Fight Oral Cancer
As part of your standard examination, we check for common signs of oral cancer. By inspecting your throat, mouth, tongue, and lips, we detect abnormalities that suggest the need for treatment. In between visits to our office, you should be aware of symptoms at home. These include red or white patches, sores that will not heal, bleeding tissues, or a painful throat. Remember that early detection provides the best chances for successful treatment, so let us know right away if you detect any of these signs.
Attend A Dental Checkup With Your Prairie Village, KS Dentist Soon!
Attending checkups and cleanings on a regular basis provides a healthy smile! We can remove bacterial deposits that cause decay and treat other oral problems when they become more severe. For more information and to schedule a visit, please contact your Prairie Village, KS dentist’s office at 913-901-8585.
