Our mouths are filled with bacteria most of which are harmless. For a healthy person, these bacteria are kept in check when done with proper oral health care such as daily brushing and flossing. As dentists may have also pointed out, you need to visit for dental check-ups every six months to assess your teeth and gums. However, this is just a random check-up that may not be enough to detect early warning signs of heart disease and cancer. Thus the need for comprehensive dental care is an essential component of your annual physical examination.
Flossing and brushing are not enough. Your dentist will agree to this because there’s so much about what’s going on your mouth than meets the eye. Bacteria may cause a myriad of problems not just for your teeth but your overall health. Comprehensive dental care may or may not ring any bells when you first encounter it. It works similarly to that of your annual physical check-up only that this is focused on your teeth and mouth. There are several reasons why oral care should become part of your annual routine check-up to assess early signs of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.
Many adults usually go to the hospital for dental emergencies and receive pain relief. Physicians are generally the front-liners to assess and answer any questions regarding oral health issues. However, due to lack of training in this aspect, they are likely to give below than what the patient needs to address underlying symptoms and concerns.
Why Undergo a Comprehensive Dental Care
The role of comprehensive dental care is to give patients optimum services to cure, rehabilitate, and detect dental and oral health concerns. When dentists do a comprehensive care, they look into the mouth, gums, teeth, and all the surrounding tissues of the oral cavity. Muscles for chewing are also assessed to see any muscle dysfunctions in the jaw area. The temporomandibular joint or TMJ is also assessed using a biting assessment. This exam may give the dentist a clue as to any jaw, neck, headaches as well as the need for dental restorations if you happen to have any cosmetic dentistry done prior.
Some patients may find that occlusions are usually found during a comprehensive dental care assessment. This is usually characterized by uneven wear of the patterns in their teeth. Your dentists have advanced training in diagnosing this so corrective care will be given.
Your teeth are not an isolated case and may be taken as a whole during the exam. Thorough oral health assessment may reveal if you need to have a tooth repaired or have it extracted. Severe tooth cavity may prompt your dentist to remove this to keep your other teeth healthy. It may also mean maintaining maximum occlusion or an assistance to malocclusion (bad bite). Following this check-up, your dentist may include tooth replacement to replace the extracted tooth.
Basically, availing comprehensive dental care services deliver more than a healthy smile. There have studies showing that it detects early signs of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. To know more about how to avail of this dental care package, visit your local dental office for any questions concerning this package.