Good oral health is essential for a healthy smile. The mouth is home to colonies of microorganisms like bacteria and viruses, and when controlled by daily brushing and flossing, your oral health can thrive. Conversely, consuming a high sugar diet that feeds the bad bacteria creates harmful acids that erode your tooth enamel and lead to cavities. It also happens when you neglect your daily oral hygiene routine.
Gum Disease
But it’s not just your teeth that can suffer. This sticky, bacterial film (plaque) congregates around the gum line. If it isn’t removed daily, it hardens into tartar, irritating gum tissue, and leaving you with gingivitis (the early stage of gum disease). If tartar isn’t removed by a professional dental cleaning using special tools, your gums can recede or pull away from the teeth, causing gum pockets (periodontitis) that allow your teeth to loosen and possibly fall out.
Other factors leaving you more susceptible to gum disease include having a medical condition like diabetes, using medications that leave you with a chronic dry mouth or having a family history of gum disease.
Six-month dental checkups and cleanings are vital since treating dental and oral diseases early can give our team time to spot problems before they grow. We can examine your mouth, teeth, gum pockets, tongue, cheeks, throat, jaw, and neck with the help of X-rays so problems can be addressed quickly and efficiently. What kind of dental diseases are we looking to find?
Dental Diseases
- Cavities: Damage to a tooth from plaque that can leave a hole in enamel that allows decay to spread.
- Gingivitis: Gum disease that makes your inflamed gums bleed and become swollen that can worsen without intervention.
- Periodontitis: Untreated gum disease from an infection that can spread to the bone supporting the teeth and throughout your body.
- Tooth sensitivity: Pain from consuming hot or cold food and beverages, often arising from worn dental fillings or crowns, gum recession, cracks in a tooth, or having thin enamel.
- Oral cancer: Chronic tobacco use or excessive alcohol consumption places you at higher risk for this disease.