Delaying A Visit to Your Dentist for a Cleaning and Exam Could be Costly

It is entirely understandable. Your life has been so busy that you have not been in for your regularly scheduled dental cleaning and examination. Fitting a dental appointment into your busy schedule can be difficult. Life can become so hectic that you forget to schedule an appointment. 

Unfortunately, missing these appointments can prove detrimental to your oral health. If you are in the Forked River, New Jersey area, and it is time for your teeth to be cleaned and your mouth to be examined, give Dr. Louann Van Liew and the team at All About Smile Dentistry a call. Dr. Van Liew understands that her patients lead busy lives and will have you in and out in no time. It is time to stop delaying your dental care. Here are some reasons why.

Dental Issues Will Only Get Worse

A few conditions in the health and medical world will heal if they are simply given time. Dental issues do not fall within these few. Dental problems will likely only get worse if not treated. If you have not been in for a routine examination, you could have dental health issues that you are not even aware of. Seeing your dentist twice a year for examinations allows them to detect problems at the earliest stages that need treatment. Allowing minor issues to get worse will likely result in some discomfort, costing you more in the long run.

Easy to fix dental problems such as cavities or gum disease will only progress. A cavity may only require a small to medium-sized filling when detected early. Allowing decay to progress unchecked can lead to costlier repair work such as a root canal or dental crown. The same goes for gum disease. When detected early, you can often reverse gum disease simply by improving your brushing and flossing habits. When allowed to progress, you could be looking at gum grafts or, even worse, lost teeth.

No Pain Does Not Mean No Problem

Many Americans miss regularly scheduled cleanings and checkups simply because they do not feel any dental discomfort. Those who fall in this category associate no pain with no problems. They do not schedule a dental appointment until they have significant discomfort from a cavity or something more serious, like an abscessed tooth. There is a misconception that pain is often what alerts you to a problem. Just because you are not experiencing any dental pain does not mean you may not be suffering from a dental health issue.

Symptoms including swollen gums may only visibly present themselves yet not cause any discomfort. The same goes for small cavities. Other dental health issues that may be present will not show any symptoms at all! This is what makes regular checkups so important. Your dentist will be able to discover developing dental health problems while they can be treated with less invasive, swift, yet effective treatment. This is a fundamental reason you should never delay your routine dental care.

Impact on Your Bank Account

No matter what the dental problem may be, they all will get worse when left untreated. A small cavity that is detected during a checkup can be treated with a routine filling. If you delay a visit to the dentist until you experience pain from tooth decay, it could have advanced and spread, leading to worse damage and will require a more expensive root canal by the time a symptom presents itself. In addition to a root canal, a porcelain dental crown will most likely be needed to reinforce the tooth after the root canal is performed. This is suddenly much more expensive than a routine filling would have been if detected during a regularly scheduled examination and is but one example and can be applied to many other dental health situations.

If you find yourself in a situation where it is time to see a dentist for a routine checkup and cleaning in the Forked River, New Jersey area, please schedule an appointment with Dr. Louann Van Liew and the team at All About Smile Dentistry by calling (609) 891-3637 today.

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