Preventive care plays a vital role in keeping your smile healthy. A routine dental exam in Albion helps prevent tooth decay and gum disease, along with a wide range of other dental issues. You can maintain your oral health by keeping up with these important regular visits.
When to Schedule a Dental Exam in Albion
The general recommendation to maintain proper oral health is to visit your dentist for an exam and professional teeth cleaning every three to six months. This holds true from the time of a patient’s very first visit, so patients of every age should be coming in that often.
However, there are some exceptions. You may need to visit your dentist at Albion Family Dental more often if you have specific dental issues, such as gum disease. This lets the dentist track your oral health more carefully as you enjoy the benefits of more frequent teeth cleaning.
Why Routine Dental Exams Are Important
Just about every medical issue, dental or otherwise, can be treated more effectively when you start treatment earlier. Coming in for your scheduled routine dental exams ensures that issues don’t develop unseen, progressing to more serious stages before you can start treatment.
Tooth decay and gum disease are two prime examples of why this is important. If your dentist spots tooth decay early, you could just need a simple dental filling. As time goes on, the same tooth decay issue could require a root canal treatment or even tooth extraction.
Gum disease progresses through several stages, which require increasingly extensive treatments to deal with. If you know about gum disease early, simply improving your oral hygiene routine could be enough. You may also require scaling and root planing. In more advanced cases, gum surgery could be the best option.
These dental issues are serious enough in their own right, but there are also oral cancers to consider. There are 54,000 new cases of oral cavity or oropharyngeal cancer in the US every year.1 Your outcome often depends on how soon treatment starts. Your dentist looks for signs of oral cancer during routine exams.
Routine dental exams also play an important role in evaluating the development of younger patients. Various issues can arise as your child’s adult teeth grow in, and discovering them early can make treatment easier. For example, your child could avoid extended treatment with braces later in life.
Professional Teeth Cleaning
You’ll also receive professional teeth cleaning when you come in for your routine dental exam in Albion. The dental hygienist uses special tools to remove plaque and tartar from the surface of your teeth. These deposits cause tooth decay and gum disease, and you can’t remove them with regular brushing.
This means that your visit isn’t just about identifying issues; your visit also contributes to actively protecting you from tooth decay and gum disease. Coming in every six months for your dental checkup and cleaning prevents plaque and tartar deposits from growing out of control.
You will likely also receive fluoride treatment during your visit. This treatment uses clinical strength fluoride gel to remineralize the enamel of your teeth. Stronger enamel prevents the development of cavities and tooth decay, providing lasting protection after your routine visit.
Schedule Your Dental Exam in Albion
Whether you haven’t had a dental exam in a while or are looking for a new regular dentist, the experienced team at Albion Family Dental can provide you with exceptional, comfortable care in a state-of-the-art facility. We provide routine dental exams, cleanings, and a wide range of other treatments to meet your needs. Reach out today to schedule your appointment by calling us at 585-589-9044.
Sources:
[1] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/oral-cavity-and-oropharyngeal-cancer/about/key-statistics.html