Lincoln Park residents likely already know that regular dental visits are essential to keep your oral health in check. The ADA recommends that you visit a dental professional every six months. Dentists focus on preventative care to ensure that your teeth are healthy. However, they do much more than clean your teeth.
Catch Problems Early
Your teeth are resilient and can usually withstand a lot of wear and tear. The most significant issue is that most of the time, you don’t feel anything such as pain, even when decay starts. Therefore, it’s essential that you get checked out by a dentist twice a year. They can catch these problems faster, which means you get appropriate treatment that may be less expensive. For example, a small cavity is much easier to fix than a deep one that could require a root canal.
Prevention
Dentists primarily focus on prevention because it is much easier to avoid a problem (and cheaper) than it is to fix it. While they realize that Lincoln Park residents may wait until a problem arises, they will still focus on preventative measures. For example, if you have the initial signs of gum disease, they may give you medicated mouth rinse or anti-cavity toothpaste to stop the inflammation and hopefully cure it.
Health Evaluation
Your dentist doesn’t just clean/scrape your teeth and polish them. While you’re in the dental chair, they may check your face and neck for signs of trouble, such as swollen lymph nodes. They can also check for TMJ issues and ensure that your bite pattern is right for your mouth. Therefore, they focus on overall health just as much as a doctor.
