How often should I visit the dentist?

Dental hygiene is important. When you go for a check up, you might notice that your teeth look cleaner afterward, but perhaps you don’t understand fully the vital role a hygienist plays in preventing gum disease and tooth loss. Our hygienist here in Stourbridge has examined a lot of dental problems that could have been easily avoided.

We all know we should brush our teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. We’re taught this at school and our parents reinforced it, so we’re all brushing our teeth twice a day daily, right? Wrong! According to a National Smile Month survey 1 in 4 adults admit they don’t brush their teeth twice a day and 1 in 10 adults admit they regularly forget to brush their teeth at all!

Why do I need to brush regularly?

Even with daily brushing and a lot of effort, we all miss the odd food morsel and it remains on our teeth for longer than necessary. When food particles build up on the teeth, they turn into plaque, which causes gum disease. If your gums are sore, red, swollen or bleeding, you could have gum disease and if you continue to ignore the problem, you could find yourself with very serious health problems in the future because of it.

Gum disease can lead to you losing your teeth, but even worse than that, it has been associated with heart disease, strokes, diabetes and low birth weight babies. Visiting a hygienist twice a year to have leftover food particles and plaque cleaned away could potentially save you from a medical disaster.

Are you visiting the dentist twice a year? That’s what we recommend here at Lion Dental in Stourbridge. If you’re not, you’re not alone. According to the National Smile Month Survey, half of the adults visit the dentist twice a year. However, a quarter of adults admit they haven’t seen a dentist in over 2 years. This isn’t often enough to maintain a good standard of dental hygiene. Do you identify with this? Can you remember the last time you saw your dentist?

What happens if you ignore tooth pain?

If you have been experiencing tooth pain, it’s even more important that you make an appointment to see the dentist as soon as you possibly can. The longer you leave a pressing dental concern, the worse the damage could be.

For example, if one of your teeth had an infection, you would certainly want to embark on root canal surgery before that infection entered the bloodstream or you lost the tooth. But, the longer you leave a problem unresolved, the worse it gets.

Here’s another example. Supposing you lost a tooth and you dearly wanted a replacement tooth to give you confidence when you smile. However, you leave it too long before visiting a dentist. In this scenario, you could well find that by the time you make an appointment to enquire about having a dental implant your jawbone will have atrophied, making the procedure much more involved and unpleasant, if possible at all.

In answer to the question; of how often should you visit your dentist, it’s twice a year to keep trouble away and your dental hygiene at a high standard. You’re much less likely to need serious dental work if you keep your teeth and gums healthy.

At the first sign of a problem, please let your dentist know. It will save you a lot of pain and expense. To book a consultation at our Stourbridge practice, please give our friendly reception team a call.