Consequences of Ignoring Dental Exams and Cleanings

You may think visiting your dentist every six months for a dental exam and cleaning is unnecessary because you maintain proper dental hygiene, according to you. You believe nothing dramatic can change in your mouth in merely six months. You could be like many others skipping six-monthly dental visits for many reasons, including fear, forgetfulness, embarrassment, or inconvenience.

While your thinking may prevent you from scheduling six monthly appointments with ARC 32 family dentistry, are you aware of what will happen to your teeth if you continue the habit of neglecting a dental cleaning? The answer to the question is rather unpleasant. You make yourself susceptible to the following conditions.

Plaque Buildup

Skipping a thorough cleaning at the dentist’s office allows plaque between your teeth and below the gum line to harden into tartar. Tartar is nonremovable with brushing and flossing and needs dental instruments to remove it. Plaque develops continuously in your mouth and converts itself into tartar within 48 hours. Even if you maintain excellent dental hygiene, you cannot prevent plaque from remaining on your teeth and accumulating.

Tooth Decay

Plaque and tartar buildup is the leading cause of tooth decay when a dentist does not treat them. Tooth decay creates a host of other issues, including bad breath and tooth loss eventually.

Tooth Loss

Advanced and untreated tooth decay or gum disease results in tooth loss. Regular visits to the dentist in Heath, TX, help to prevent the unpleasant oral health issues from advancing to the occurrence of tooth loss.

Gum Disease

No one pays attention to their gums because they don’t cause any pain or discomfort. Gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease, is present if you have red and swollen gums. You may think the condition is average. Include missed dental appointments, and you risk gum disease from progressing into severe periodontal disease for which no cure exists. If you allow the condition to move, you can experience tooth loss along with jaw bone loss.

Regular visits to your dentist enable the professional to diagnose gingivitis early and provide the treatments required to reverse the condition with proper dental hygiene.

Bad Breath

The accumulation of bacteria, plaque, and tartar will result in a lousy breath. Bad breath is also a result of periodontal disease that you cannot detect unless you visit your dentist.

Cavities

When your mouth isn’t cleaned or examined by the dentist, the apparent outcome of your ignorance leads to cavities developing on your teeth. Plaque and tartar buildup, along with the bacteria, erode your tooth enamel to cause holes in your teeth. Treating cavities early when they are tiny is comfortable, but let them advance to cause deep decay, and you require extensive dental work. The holes may bring you the need to undergo root canal treatments and have dental crowns placed over your tooth to protect them. When you ignore six-monthly dental visits, the tiny cavities on your teeth expand, making them challenging to treat.

Tooth Discoloration

Tooth decay and cavities are not the only consequences of allowing plaque and tartar buildup on your teeth. You also develop discoloration in your mouth that worsens with time when you avoid dental visits.

Infections and Abscesses

The more time you avoid dental visits, you allow any abscesses or infections to spread. Dental abscesses are not easily detectable unless the dentist views them after taking an x-ray. Dental abscesses are life-threatening because the bacteria in them can spread to your bloodstream and affect other parts of your body. By avoiding dental visits, you are putting your oral health at risk and your overall health requiring treatments from various medical professionals besides your dentist.

The consequences of ignoring dental visits enable you to put your oral and overall health at risk besides your well-being. Regular cleanings and exams from dentists help prevent minor oral health conditions and prevent any conditions existing in your mouth from progressing to larger issues.

You may think regular dental visits are a nuisance but will undoubtedly begin thinking differently when you learn they help you save money on expensive dental or medical expenses. Therefore if you have avoided dental visits, it is never too late to change your behavior to get your oral health back on track. Contact the dentist in Heath right away to get the long-awaited exam and cleaning; you have been avoiding all this while and avoid the consequences of ignoring these examinations.

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