No matter how diligent you are with your daily dental hygiene, there are some things that you can’t necessarily do on your own. There are parts of your mouth that you aren’t going to be able to reach with a toothbrush, and there are oral health problems that it’s impossible to detect without professional help.
To stop problems with teeth before they start, it’s important to see your dentist for a dental checkup and cleaning biannually. If you live near Bartlesville, OK, give the team at Dentistry by Design a call and we’ll be happy to help you.
Dental checkups are obviously different from other kinds of care in that there’s nothing specific driving you to see a dentist. However, even if you don’t have a toothache, it’s still just as important that you come in for regular preventive care.
This is because, in many cases, regular checkups can keep these problems from cropping up in the first place. By removing built-up plaque in hard-to-reach parts of the mouth, you’ll be able to stop tooth decay from fully setting in. This saves you the pain associated with these conditions, as well as the time and money that comes with treating them after the fact.
If you have insurance, getting routine preventive care is also a smart financial decision. Insurance companies often provide you with two checkups at no out-of-pocket cost, while fillings and root canals are covered at a much lower rate.
The point of a checkup is both to find oral health problems in their infancy and to form a rapport with our patients. To that effect, we’ll first visually examine your teeth and gums for any obvious signs of issues. We also look at the soft tissues of the mouth, checking for any lesions or sores that could indicate oral cancer. If it’s been a while since your last checkup, we’ll then perform x-rays to gauge what’s going on beneath the surface of your smile.
If we find problems during any stage of this process, we’ll begin working with you on a treatment plan to get your oral health back into good order. In either case, we’ll be sure to answer any questions you have about your teeth and to update your medical history with any new information.
Dental cleanings make use of specialized tools to remove plaque and tartar deposits that you may not ordinarily be able to handle on your own, like between your teeth and along your gum line. This reduces your overall risk of developing tooth decay, gum disease, or chronic bad breath.
We’ll also take the time to polish your teeth once this is done, giving you the straight-from-the-dentist cleaning feeling that makes the visit feel worth it!