Oral health: a reminder why we should protect our smiles
"You need to visit a dentist at least twice a year." This phrase is common among all of us, but do we understand the logic behind this? There are several reasons why oral health is important.
Many of us overlook oral health in our overall well-being. The cost of treatment could be a reason, but other factors also come into play. What we might not realize is, if we leave any oral health issues unaddressed, they cumulatively result in undesirable outcomes.
It is advisable that one visits a dentist at least twice a year, but more so in situations where there are several oral health concerns to be addressed.
A child, for instance, should have a first visit to the dentist within the first six months from when their first tooth appears. This is to help find out if both the teeth and the soft tissues are developing well and that there isn't any concern for both child and parent. Regular visits for children should be scheduled owing to their susceptibility to decay.
Tooth decay is one of the common oral issues. There are preventive measures against tooth decay which include; fissure sealing, and the use of flowable material to seal deep grooves in the back teeth to prevent food packing that could easily result in decay. It's recommended regular fluoride application based on one’s susceptibility to decay.
We should prioritize teeth cleaning appointments, fabrication of space maintainers in case of a lost tooth to avert crowding of teeth later on because of drifting of teeth into spaces, and fabrication of appliances such as mouth guards or orthodontic appliances to prevent alignment issues in the future.
More often than not, we ignore the mild sensitivity that we sometimes feel on our back teeth. The mild pain that comes and goes, or bleeding when we brush. The mentioned could be indicators of a major underlying issue that can be identified and sorted by visiting a dentist.
Sensitivity, the uncomfortable feeling in response to hot or cold or sour sensations on your teeth when you take fluids could be an early indicator of a cavity, gum recession or a blurring red light to some habits such as excessive consumption of acidic drinks that erode the tooth substance. The inappropriate technique of brushing also hurts your gums and exposes that part of the tooth that shouldn’t be.
That mild pain you feel every so often could be an indicator of a cavity in your tooth that needs attention before it progresses, resulting in a more robust treatment modality or even ultimately losing the tooth.
A cavity easily forms in between teeth in those areas that are inaccessible during brushing. Over time, this becomes a big cavity that undermines the tooth from that surface, resulting in a weak tooth. When this happens, one day you’ll be chewing on something as soft as bread and the tooth breaks. Someone could easily misconstrue this as having weak teeth, especially where no symptoms had been prior experienced. This is one of the many things that could be picked out during a routine check-up, either clinically or with the aid of a dental X-ray.
Bleeding gums when brushing is never normal, because most people don’t get alarmed by this. It’s an indicator of gum disease that progresses slowly or faster in some people, resulting in a more severe form of gum disease called periodontitis. It’s not just the gum that’s affected but also the underlying bone that supports the teeth, resulting in mobile teeth that would, amongst the uninformed, be misconstrued as old age. Gum disease is an issue that can be picked out and managed in good time.
A lot of these issues are easily overlooked and patients present themselves to the dentist when a situation is advanced, yet it doesn’t need to get there, because these issues can be addressed early during biannual visits. Awareness around oral health still needs to be raised, including proper brushing techniques.
So, have you visited a dentist this year?
