Keeping Your Teeth For Your Lifetime Starts With Your Hygienist

Keeping your teeth for a lifetime is not only something that is possible, it’s something that’s very likely if you bother to take care of your teeth properly. The easiest way to do that besides daily brushing and flossing is to see your dental hygienist for a general cleaning every 6 months. This makes the risk of deep cavities or serious gum problems forming drop way down. Any problem caught earlier is much more likely to be treatable, rather than to cost you your precious, original teeth. Sure, we live in a day and age where anyone can go get “false” teeth or implants, but why do that to yourself when keeping your own teeth is really so simple? The leading causes of tooth loss actually aren’t rotting teeth or cavities, but what surprises many people is that the leading cause of tooth loss is gum disease. While gum diseases in its mildest forms is not all that damaging, and is relatively treatable serious gum diseases can spell major problems. A mild case of gingivitis can turn into periodontitis relatively quickly if left untreated, especially in the age 65+ populations. Periodontitis is a serious condition that effects millions of men and women each year around the country, oftentimes including children with poor access to dental hygiene tools. Simply by visiting the dentist every 6 months one can catch gingivitis before it turns to periodontitis, and save many expenses and a lot of pain for themselves later down the road. Left untreated, periodontitis can lead eat through the gums into the bones that hold the teeth in. The bone decay can cause loose teeth, and in some extreme cases cause the teeth to fall out. When periodontitis gets to the point of eating into the bone, this may be past the help and care of even the most up-to-date dental technologies available to consumers today. By paying regular visits to the dentist, you can prevent these conditions before they get to this point. This is why your 6 month checkups are so vital to the future health of your teeth. The populations most likely to have issues losing teeth to periodontitis include those that are aged 35 or older, are male, avoid professional dental care, do not brush their teeth regularly (it’s disgusting but there are people in the US who don’t brush their teeth daily), smoke, have diabetes, suffer from high blood pressure, or suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Remember, if caught early enough the effects of gingivitis are very easy to treat and prevent in the future, and some cases of periodontitis in the earlier stages can be reversed! This is why the importance of seeing your dentist every 6 months is so stressed. It’s not a quack to create more income or charge customers more money, it’s to keep this exact scenario from playing out in your mouth! If you have any questions regarding this article please contact us or call us at 909-465-1016. The Ramona Dentistry Team “Where Family Comes First”