Preventative Care Can Make All The Difference
Do you only visit the dentist when you think something is wrong? Or are you the kind of person who visits sporadically when you happen to remember that you need to get a check-up? If so, you are doing yourself a major disservice and are likely to suffer unnecessary pain and difficulties in the future that will be costly to resolve. How can we make such a prediction? As dentists, we’ve seen a lot of patients over the years, and there is a clear difference between those who invest in regular preventative care and those who do not.
Preventative Care is Worth the Time & Effort
Dentistry is one of the few healthcare professions that promotes well care, aka preventative care. In fact, encouraging our patients to be proactive with their oral health means that we are usually missing out on future opportunities to provide more complex and profitable treatments. But that’s not why we chose dentistry.
Our goal is to give each of our patients the best possible chance at keeping their smile intact for their entire life. That means promoting preventative care and good oral hygiene above all else. Not only does this save our patients from pain and suffering, but it also saves them time and money, especially over the long term. The healthier your mouth is, the less time you will spend in the dentist’s chair and the lower your chance of experiencing a preventable dental emergency.
Preventative Dental Care is Self-Care
It is well known that a healthy smile boosts confidence and self-esteem and has an overall positive impact on physical health. Visiting a dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and examination is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental well-being. That’s because preventative care is about more than just cleaning your teeth and checking for cavities. It’s also about checking in with you on a personal level.
Your dentist is often the first person to notice potentially serious problems because the signs show up in your mouth first. During an examination, we can see the signs of stress, chronic pain, disordered sleeping, systemic disease, and certain types of cancer. We know that if a patient has been neglecting their home oral hygiene routine, it could indicate a change in circumstances that is affecting their mental health. When we notice these things, it prompts us to ask questions that may lead us to recommend additional treatment or to seek help from a medical doctor or another type of healthcare professional.
We encourage all of our patients to visit us for preventative care every 6 months as part of their general healthcare plan. If you haven’t seen your dentist in a while, give us a call. We proudly serve Meeker, CO and the surrounding area.
