A blog article by Clinique Dentaire Champlain
The benefits of an annual check-up and cleaning at the dentist
Many people don’t see the value in going to the dentist every year for a routine cleaning. It’s easy to think that brushing every day at home is enough. However, dental cleaning should not be overlooked.
Whether it’s simply to give your teeth a thorough cleaning to start the year off right or to detect serious problems that often fly under the radar, a regular dental cleaning is essential in many aspects of your everyday routine. To better understand what we’re getting at, it’s important to look at the exact procedures involved in routine checkups at a dental clinic and explore the benefits of each.
Here are a few examples of what regular dental inspection and cleaning can do for your dental and oral health:
Dental scaling
A regular cleaning appointment with a professional will remove tartar build-up from your teeth and gums!
Tartar is itself, a thickening or hardening of plaque! This means that, over time, the sugar, bacteria and acids in your saliva build up and coat your teeth and can cause inflammation of the gums, and even destruction of the tissues that support your teeth. In addition, tartar is often responsible for bad breath!
Your dental hygienist – with the help of their sterilized tools – will be able to remove the accumulation of tartar on your teeth in order to avoid related problems such as tooth loosening and even tooth loss.
Monitoring of your health and habits
With ongoing monitoring of your dental and oral health, your dentist will be able to put measures in place to avoid asymptomatic diseases and conditions.
For example, oral cancer is one of those culprits. The only way to diagnose this disease is through a health professional’s inspection of the tissues of the mouth, where cancerous or precancerous lesions may develop.
It is important not to think that oral cancer is only a problem for people who use tobacco, alcohol and drugs.. Although the risk is increased for these people, “25% of people with oral cancer do not smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs” (Canada.ca)
Furthermore, oral cancer can occur at any age of life! Although the incidence increases significantly with age, no one is immune. This is why it is extremely important to take preventative measures.
Avoid costly procedures
Admittedly, some routine appointments are very expensive and it is not always convenient to spend money, especially when we are not sure of the benefits of such an appointment. However, we also know that the discovery of problems related to poor dental maintenance can quickly empty a wallet!
It is therefore important to put things in perspective and think about the long-term result. A treatment for a problem as discussed above can often be worth twice as much as a general check-up.
Finally, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that your teeth and your smile are one of the first elements noticed during social and public interactions. They are tools for self-expression, which makes it even more important to take good care of them. A routine appointment should generally be every 6 to 12 months unless you have a specific condition and depending on your oral needs. So, when was your last visit to Clinique Dentaire Champlain?
