Think You Can Skip A Dental Checkup? This Guide Explains Why Not

You’re meticulous about caring for your teeth, there isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t brush your teeth twice, floss once, and rinse with mouthwash after every meal. With all this diligence to your oral health, you wonder, why would you need to go to a regular dental checkup? Even the most diligent of us can miss vital spots in our mouths, and there are other factors that we can’t detect ourselves in the course of our daily dental ablutions. Still not convinced? Here are some reasons that dental checkups are vital to your ongoing oral health.

TMJ Issues Aren’t Detectable At Home
One of the many things that a dentist checks for when you go into the office are any issues with your Temporomandibular joint or the TMJ. This joint is the one that connects your jaw to your skull, and there are common issues that can occur due to factors ranging from simple aging to a tendency to grind or clench your teeth. These issues can worsen to make chewing or talking hard or painful, and there are procedures that can help mitigate these issues before they become severe.

Oral Cancer Is Hard To Detect On Your Own
Dentists aren’t just interested in the health of your teeth and gums; they’re also on the watch for one of the scariest oral culprits in the health world. Oral cancer often appears as dark yellow nodules or hard, discolored spots in your mouth, under your tongue, in your throat, gums, and sometimes on or in your jawbone. Without the use of X-rays and other imaging technology you may be harboring a grim reaper in your mouth that could be expunged written with proper treatment.

Cavities, Plaque, and Tartar Can Form In Places We Can’t See
While we can be very meticulous about our oral care, it’s always possible that we’re missing certain areas or that we’re having other issues leading to cavities and related problems in our mouths. Oral health has been shown to have a correlation to overall health, so make sure you don’t have anything going on in the hidden recesses of your mouth can be good for you overall. Dentists often find that tartar and plaque are forming beneath the gumline in even the most diligent patients, so don’t feel like you’re doing a poor job. Tartar and plaque are just persistent.

If it’s been a while since you’ve last seen your dentist, even if you’ve been taking meticulous care of your teeth over the years, it’s time for you to schedule an appointment. There are so many different things that can be going on in your mouth that you don’t want to leave it to just regular brushing and an occasional cursory glance in the mirror. Pick up the phone and give Dr. Jacob Laudie a call at Jacob Laudie Dental in Lees Summit, MO and schedule a check-up. Following your appointment, you’ll receive a consultation on ways to hit any problem areas you may have been missing and advice for what to do between that and your next regular check-up.