What You Learn During a Dental Checkup Appointment

When you visit your dentist regularly for routine checkup and cleaning appointments, is a great chance for your dentist to learn as much as possible about the current state of your dental health. It’s also an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about it yourself, like if there’s more you should be doing to help keep your smile consistently healthy. Today, we examine a few important things you learn during your dental checkup, and why that knowledge is vital to keeping your smile consistently healthy.

If your hygiene’s as good as you think it is

The first thing you’ll learn after your dentist carefully checks your teeth is if your dental hygiene routine is as good as you think it is. The point of this routine is to keep your teeth and gum line consistently clean of oral bacteria, which form plaque on your teeth surfaces every day. If you don’t brush or floss as consistently as you should, you’ll have much greater plaque and tartar (calcified plaque) on your teeth. This means you should be doing more to diligently clean your teeth every day, or that it’s been too long since you last visit your dentist for a checkup.

If you should regret skipping your last visit

If you feel like you’ve taken particularly good care of your teeth and gums since your last dental checkup, it might be more tempting to postpone or skip your upcoming visit for seemingly more pressing matters. This is a mistake, but you may not realize it until you do schedule and attend your next visit. Much like your dentist can tell by the state of plaque and tartar development how well your hygiene routine is, it will be equally obvious if you’ve skipped your previous visits by the state of your teeth and gums when you do visit. Depending on your specific oral health, that may mean that you need additional treatment to address an issue that’s developed.

If you’ll need more treatment than you thought

After your dentist has thoroughly checked your teeth and gums, you’ll learn if you might have missed the development of an oral health issues. For instance, concerns like tooth decay and gum disease – the two most common chronic dental issues – are the product of excessive plaque and tartar development. The bacteria these films contain can systematically attack your healthy tooth structure and gum tissues, and if given enough time, they can cause irreversible damage to your oral health.

Schedule your next dental checkup soon

The best way to learn how well you’re taking care of your smile is to stick to a regular schedule of dental checkup and cleaning appointments. To learn more, schedule an appointment by calling Peddicord Family Dentistry in Ankeny, IA, today at (515) 963-3339. We also proudly serve patients of all ages who live in Bondurant, Polk City, Elkhart, Alleman, Cambridge, and all surrounding communities.