For some people, dental care is an afterthought–they put it low on their priority list when it comes to taking care of their health. Consequently, there are many people who aren’t going to the dentist during the coronavirus pandemic. If you are one of them, it’s time to rethink your priorities and move preventive dental care up the list.
Here’s why dental care should be among your top priorities for maintaining your overall health.
Teeth Don’t Heal
If you break a bone, it will heal. Get a cut, and it will close. But if you develop a cavity or chip a tooth, it won’t heal.
That’s because there are no special cells dedicated to repairing damaged teeth. The body has limited mechanisms to repair teeth: minerals in saliva can restore minerals lost from teeth. This helps keep your teeth strong and fights off decay, but can’t rebuild a tooth once it’s been damaged.
Preventive dental care supports your body’s natural remineralization, helping to tip the balance in favor of your teeth. If you get preventive dental care, you may be able to avoid reconstructive dental care altogether.
Avoid a Dental Crisis
Another reason to get preventive dental care is avoiding a dental crisis. If you don’t get regular dental checkups and preventive care, you are more likely to develop cavities. Cavities are a relatively minor problem, but if left untreated they can become serious.
A toothache can be a disabling condition. The pain can be spontaneous, severe, and enduring. It can make it hard to work, hard to enjoy life, and hard to sleep. But the condition can become even more serious: a cavity can develop into an infected tooth. An infected tooth can cause a high fever, but, even more importantly, it can become a source for a serious, even deadly infection affecting other parts of the body, including the heart or brain.
When a dental crisis emerges, you need emergency dentistry immediately, no matter how inconvenient it might be. It can turn your schedule upside down.
But when you get preventive dental care, you do it on your schedule. You can prevent cavities from developing or detect and treat them when they’re a minor problem.
Save Money
Many people think they are saving money by skipping preventive dental care. However, skipping your regular checkups and prevention visits will likely cost you in the end.
Fillings are more expensive than preventive visits. And crowns are more expensive than fillings. And dental implants to replace a removed tooth are more expensive still. The more preventive care you get, the more likely it is that you won’t need expensive dental treatments and you can get by with little or no dental expenses.
Maintain Your Health
Of course, preventive dental care isn’t just about your mouth. Your oral health is the foundation of your overall health, and keeping your teeth healthy can contribute to staying healthy.
Among the conditions that have been linked to poor oral health (especially gum disease) are:
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Diabetes
- Dementia
- Cancer
With preventive dental care, you can keep your mouth healthy, which can reduce your risk of the above conditions as well as many others.
It’s Safe and Smart to Take Care of Your Teeth in Carlsbad
These days, some people avoid routine dental care because they fear that it might put them at increased risk for contracting the coronavirus. However, going to the dentist is one of the safer activities you can do. Dentists have always been careful about infection risk, and now with new guidelines we have implemented some of the strictest protocols of any profession to reduce your risk.
With the low risk and the high benefits of preventive dental care, it’s a good idea to schedule your next appointment now. If you are looking for a Carlsbad dentist, please call (760) 622-3010 today for an appointment at Elevated Smiles.
