The Importance of Routine Dental Checkups
When you have a toothache or a cracked tooth, that’s usually a sign that you’re in need of a dental checkup. However, not all dental problems are easily detected, and you may have a dental problem that you are not aware of. Routine dental checkups are necessary for good oral hygiene and are the best way to detect dental problems when they are at their earliest stages, and when you may not be aware of them yet.
With routine dental checkups, you will be aware of any potential dental problems before they become severe. In the long run, this early detection and treatment will save you unnecessary discomfort and pain, as well as time and money.
Because of the importance of routine dental checkups, the Academy of General Dentistry recommends checkups at least twice a year. However, oral hygiene needs change with age and the condition of your teeth and gums. Depending on your specific needs, your dentist may recommend routine dental checkups more or less frequent than twice a year.
What You Can Expect at Your Routine Dental Checkup
Your dentist will perform a visual exam
To properly detect any dental issues, your dentist will use an intraoral camera. The sophisticated magnification and lighting from the intraoral camera will allow your dentist to see all surfaces areas inside of your mouth. Beyond cracked and decayed teeth, your dentist will also be on the lookout for growths and sores as well as any other potential issues.
At Northern Edge Dentistry, we use intraoral cameras that allow you to watch your dentist examine your teeth in real-time! By watching your tooth-by-tooth exam, you will be able to better understand any potential dental issues that need treatment.
Beyond examining the inside of your mouth, your dentist will also conduct an oral cancer screening by checking for lymph nodes on your head, jaw, and neck for pain, tenderness and flexibility.
We’ll take digital x-rays
A visual exam won’t be able to detect all potential dental problems. To uncover the difficult to detect dental problems, we use state-of-the-art, modern digital x-rays. Instead of old-fashioned film x-rays, our digital x-rays provide instant results and emit 90 percent less radiation. This means that not only does it save you time, but it’s also much safer as well.
We’ll perform a gingival pocket exam
Teeth and gums go hand in hand. In order to have healthy teeth, you need healthy gums. To determine the health of your gums, we’ll perform a gingival pocket exam. This exam will determine the presence or risk of gum (periodontal) disease.
Each tooth sits inside a gingival pocket of gum tissue. The deeper that the gingival pocket becomes, the higher the risk you will have of tooth damage and infection that will lead to gum disease.
Gingival pockets deepened when harmful bacteria penetrate the gum line. These harmful bacteria come from food debris and plaque, which naturally collect inside of the gingival pocket. Daily tooth brushing and flossing will normally remove the food debris and plague from your gingival pocket. However, when they are not removed, they may result in deepening your gingival pockets.
During your gingival pocket exam, we’ll measure the depth of each gingival pocket.
Gum disease may be reversible in its earliest stages. However, because you will rarely experience pain from gum disease, it’s possible to have gum disease and not know it.
Routine dental checkups are crucial for detecting gum disease in its earliest stages. At Northern Edge Dentistry, we perform thorough gingival pocket exams so that we can detect potential gum disease as early as possible. Once we detect early signs of gum disease, we’ll formulate a treatment plan for you to reverse the gum disease, saving you time, money, and potential pain and discomfort in the future.
After your visual exam, digital x-rays, and gingival pocket exam, we’ll professionally clean your teeth.
A professional cleaning is necessary because plaque builds up over time, and normal teeth brushing will not be able to remove all of the plaque buildup. When plaque isn’t removed, that leaves you at risk for disease, including gum disease, permanent tooth decay, and various other dental problems.
At Northern Edge Dentistry, we use special dental instruments to remove all plaque from above and below the gum line so that you can have healthy and beautiful teeth. After we remove plaque from your teeth, we polish each tooth to make your teeth look and feel their best. Teeth polishing also whitens your teeth, and it’ll smooth the surfaces of your tooth so that plaque is less likely to accumulate.
We’ll keep your dental records electronically
We use advanced software to keep your patient records as secure as possible and in electronic format. You may be used to a dentist that keeps your patient records in paper files. At Northern Edge Dentistry, we don’t believe in keeping your records in paper files. Our electronic dental records system allows your patient records to be kept as securely as possible. Our system also allows us to immediately access all of your past and present patient records. This means that during your dental visit, your waiting time before and during your appointment is minimized as much as possible.