As you’ve probably heard, the American Dental Association strongly recommends that you visit your dentist twice a year for a routine checkup. If you feel that’s a bit frequent you’re not alone, and many people tend to put it off – especially if they’re already juggling a busy schedule.
While delaying a routine checkup or even seeing a dentist only once a year may sound harmless – the fact of the matter is that it is risky. Truthfully there are five good reasons why you need to have a dental checkup at least twice a year:
- Get your teeth professionally cleaned
Although you may feel that you’re thorough when you brush and floss your teeth, there may be some areas that are overlooked. In those areas plaque can gradually build up and form tartar that will require special tools available at a dentist to remove.
During your routine checkup your dentist will thoroughly clean your teeth and remove and plaque that is starting to build up as well as newly formed tartar. If you skip your appointment, the tartar can cause cavities or gum disease – which is much more difficult to treat.
- Identify tooth decay early
By inspecting your teeth at short intervals, dentists can identify tooth decay early – before it wears away too much of your enamel. By treating tooth decay in its early stages you can avoid further issues, including tooth loss.
The longer you postpone your checkups, the greater the risk that any cavities will worsen before they’re treated.
- Prevent periodontitis
If you visit a dentist every six months, you can prevent periodontitis by diagnosing gum disease early and having it treated. Because the early stages of gum disease are painless and have few symptoms it is often overlooked unless a dentist actually inspects your teeth and gums.
Left untreated, periodontitis can cause serious issues. It can result in tooth loss and has been linked to heart disease, respiratory issues, stroke, and arthritis.
- Detect early stages of oral cancer
Early diagnosis of oral cancer can quite literally save your life, which on its own is reason enough to visit a dentist every six months. It is important for your checkups to be this frequent because oral cancer is known to spread quickly.
The most effective way to control oral cancer is to detect it early and treat it quickly. Normally surgery is required to remove the tumor, and is followed up with radiotherapy.
- Save money
Seeing a dentist twice a year can actually save you money. The cost of a normal checkup is far less than what you would need to treat severe cavities, gum disease, tooth loss, or other issues.
Simply put, regular dental appointments are an extremely effective preventative measure that will help ensure that you spend much less on dental treatment overall.
Starting to understand why seeing dentists in Chiswick or a location near you at least twice a year is necessary? By this point it should be clear that postponing dental checkups or even trying to get away with yearly appointments is not a good idea and could result in many different issues that cost you both time and money as well as affect your health and wellbeing.
Long story short, as busy as you may be it is in your own best interests to make time to visit your dentist every six months – without exception. Assuming you follow good oral hygiene practices the checkup shouldn’t take that long and you’ll be able to leave with peace of mind knowing that you have a clean bill of health.
