Regular Dental Checkup……Why even bother?
How often do you hear someone comment that they have not been to the dentist in years? Why is it so important to include a routine dental appointment in your health care regimen? With so many changes taking place in our world today, and people more conscious about their health more than ever, it is a great time to explore how oral health is the window to overall health. Your dental appointment can potentially hold the key to preventative medicine in so many aspects of your body.
The health of the mouth can tell you the story of whether several silent disease processes are affecting your body without you even knowing it. From your first new patient visit, a blood pressure screen is conducted, which provides a great look at your cardiovascular health. This is so important for our working parents, that often dedicate their time round the clock to their workloads and their families,and neglecting self-care for too long. It is also important for our young adults, whose lifestyle can be committed to working hours at establishing themselves in their career fields. A dental checkup is usually a covered expense under their dental insurance, and a great opportunity to assess their health and work towards self care.
A dental checkup is also the only way to diagnose tooth decay early on, so that quick actions can be taken to take steps to save teeth from permanent tooth loss. It is scary that there are times that you cannot feel tooth decay until it is too late! Much like a routine oil change to ensure engine health and prevent a roadside breakdown, it is essential that dental professionals assess your teeth before you at a dead end and loose teeth that could have been saved. What are some other things that a dental check up can show? The list goes on and on. Periodontal disesase, early stages of oral cancer, side effects of medications causing decay, and occupational and lifestyle choices affecting teeth are just the tip of the iceberg. Periodontal disease is a dental disease process that has devastating effects on not only the teeth, but other critical systems of the body as well. Research has linked periodontal disease to cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
