How often do you visit your dentist? At Smilemakers in Southampton we welcome new patients of all ages, and are keen to stress the advantages that regular trips to the dental practice have for both your oral and general health. The standard advice is to visit the dentist every six months, but some people may need to come in more often. If your clinician tells you that you need more frequent dental check-ups then there will be a good reason for this, and you should always follow this advice.
Prevention is better than cure
Whatever the age of a patient, the dentist will first and foremost focus on preventative care. In an ideal world there would be no such thing as gum disease or tooth decay, but our lifestyles are often far from ideal, meaning that these and other conditions can and do occur. At our Southampton dental clinic we use early detection techniques to catch problems as early as possible.
Often, dental decay and gum disease have few early symptoms for you to spot at home. In fact, by the time they make themselves known to you, they have already had the chance to take hold. Your Southampton dentist won’t just check the outside of your teeth, but may use x-rays to check inside and underneath any existing restorations such as crowns, to be sure that teeth are really as healthy as they look.
Your dentist will also check that existing fillings, crowns, veneers and the like are in good condition, replacing them as necessary. Minor problems such as slightly cracked teeth could easily become a lot more severe, requiring more expensive and extensive treatment at a later date, so it is always better to have them treated sooner rather than later.
An important part of a dental check-up is screening for mouth cancer, which your dentist will do at every check-up at Smilemakers in Southampton. Mouth cancer still has high ratio of deaths to cases diagnosed, and this is at least in part because it is often spotted late.
Should your Southampton dentist notice anything of concern, they will refer you to a local hospital consultant immediately for further investigation.
