For most patients who visit our Eugene family dental practice, visiting the dentist ranks as more of a punishment than getting a lump of coal in their stocking. Even though Dr. Feldmanis and the American Dental Association recommend visiting a dentist once every six months, many patients feel such regular visits are unnecessary, especially when they regularly receive a healthy, cavity-free diagnosis.
If you’re considering giving up regular dental appointments as part of your New Year’s resolutions, you might want to consider the consequences that such a decision could bring. While a fear of the dentist or trouble finding a time to schedule an appointment can feel like compelling reasons to skip visiting our Eugene family dental practice, enjoying a healthy, great looking smile in 2019 and beyond requires regular dental care.
So you can better understand why regular visits to see Dr. Feldmanis are so necessary, here are a few reasons why dental care should rank as an important part of your plans for the future.
Oral Cancer Detection
Oral cancer is a life-threatening disease that can manifest in the mouth without you ever realizing something is wrong until too late. Oral cancer doesn’t develop easy to recognize symptoms, often leading to a deadly late stage diagnosis.
Fortunately, Dr. Feldmanis is highly trained to recognize the early signs of oral cancer. By receiving regular exams every six months, the likelihood of Dr. Feldmanis spotting the signs of oral cancer early on are significantly higher than it you only visit the dentist once every few years.
What makes this so tragic is that when caught early, oral cancer has an incredibly high survival rate. So even if you don’t think anything is wrong with your oral health, you never know what could be lurking below the surface that could cause significant problems in the future.
The Elimination of Plaque and Tartar Buildup
Regular brushing and flossing rank as the two most important daily habits a patient can practice at home to prevent the development of tooth decay and gum disease. Unfortunately, even the most diligent oral hygiene enthusiast can fail to adequately clean certain areas of the mouth that lead to the development of plaque buildup.
When plaque – a sticky biofilm made up of harmful oral bacteria and food particles that remain in the mouth after eating – is allowed to build up on the surface of your teeth it transforms into a calcified form called tartar. Tartar is a yellowish substance that not only discolors your teeth, it also causes gum tissue to become irritated and inflamed. This inflammation in turns leads to the development of early stage gum disease known as gingivitis.
During the early stages of gingivitis, gum tissue can begin to bleed, become swollen and tender to the touch. Like most oral health problems, gingivitis can become far more serious if not treated early on. When the disease is allowed to progress, it can develop into periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease and the leading cause of permanent tooth loss in adults.
Prevent Bad Habits from Causing Permanent Damage
A lot of bad habits not only harm your overall health they also can damage your oral health as well. While you probably know a few of these habits that include smoking, nail-biting and chewing on ice, you might not realize the problems they can cause your oral health. From weakening tooth enamel to resulting in a chipped tooth, these type of oral health issues can be avoided as a result of bad habits when you receive regular dental care.
Save You Money
If there’s one theme to keep in mind it’s that when left untreated most oral health problems will only become worse. Failure to have the tartar removed from your teeth during a regular cleaning can result in the development of gum disease. A small cavity that develops can become progressively bigger, requiring a cap or crown to fix instead of a filling.
By scheduling regular exams, you can receive the preventative care needed to avoid the more expensive procedures that are required to repair a problem that was allowed to spiral out of control. Save yourself some money and help keep your teeth looking and feeling their best by scheduling regular exams with Dr. Feldmanis.
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