How Routine Dental Checkups Help Your Smile In the Long Run

Dental checkups are the best way to keep your smile healthy. Not only do they help prevent cavities and gum disease, but they also allow your dentist to catch any small issues before they turn into big problems.

Cavities, gum disease, and other issues often only present mild symptoms at first. With a professional cleaning session and a thorough checkup, your dentist can address problems before they become more serious. A routine visit can also help you avoid more expensive procedures in the future.

Gum Disease

While gum disease can be reversed with timely treatment, it can also lead to tooth loss and serious health problems in other parts of the body. That’s why it’s so important to maintain a good oral hygiene routine and see your dentist for checkups twice per year. During these visits, our dentist will check for signs of tooth decay and periodontal disease. We’ll also clean your teeth to get rid of any plaque and tartar buildup that can cause cavities.

If we find any signs of gum disease, we’ll review our treatment options with you. In most cases, we can treat your gum disease with a deep cleaning known as scaling and root planing. During this procedure, we remove bacteria that’s built up along the gum line and smooth the roots of your teeth to prevent future buildup of bacteria and plaque. We may also recommend some changes in your daily oral care routine to help you maintain the health of your gums. These could include the best toothbrush to use and how frequently to brush your teeth, as well as which foods and drinks to avoid to keep your smile healthy.

Cavities

At the moment, a cavity might seem like a tiny concern—it only affects one tooth, after all! But in reality, a cavity can start to impact your smile’s well-being as soon as it forms. That’s because it weakens your tooth and leaves you more susceptible to decay, infection, and other serious oral health problems. By treating cavities right away, your dentist can protect your teeth from harm down the road.

In fact, dentistry has come a long way in recent years, especially when it comes to treating cavities and preventing their recurrence. With today’s treatment methods, we can often preserve more of your natural tooth structure than in the past, keeping a tooth healthy and whole rather than removing it completely. Fillings, inlays/onlays, and even dental crowns can replace what has been lost and restore strength to the teeth weakened by decay. A tooth treated with a procedure like one of these will be far less likely to experience further decay in the future.

Oral Cancer Screening

At your checkup and cleaning visits, we’ll also conduct an oral cancer screening to examine your mouth for early signs of cancer. If any lesions are discovered during your exam, we might recommend another oral exam with an oncologist or additional imaging tests to rule out the presence of cancerous cells. Early detection of oral cancer is the best way to ensure a successful recovery.

Call us at 773-880-2310 or email us at office@sheffieldsquaredental.com to schedule your appointment. Visit Sheffield Square Dental Care at 2835 N. Sheffield Ave, Suite 305, Chicago, IL 60657.