A sparkling smile doesn’t always equate to good oral health. Conversely, good oral health is more than just showing your pearly whites. It’s also crucial for overall well-being.
Preventative dentistry takes a proactive approach to keeping your oral cavity, mind, and body healthy. It nips in the bud dental issues that may be costly or even impossible to treat further down the line. Prioritize preventive care for optimal dental health by seeing a dentist in Jacksonville, FL, who offers cutting-edge dental techniques at affordable rates.
Today’s blog will explore the importance of preventative dentistry and provide essential oral hygiene tips for those who need more convincing.
Early Detection Minimizes Invasive Intervention
Don’t wait for a problem to arise to see a dentist in Jacksonville, FL. The lack of access to affordable dental care doesn’t plague your community.
If you have cost-effective preventative care within reach, use it for routine dental exams. It will enable dentists to detect issues like cavities, periodontal disease, and oral cancer early on. The sooner they can identify such issues, the sooner they can treat them through minimally invasive and simpler methods.
Prevention Costs Less Than Treatment
Preventative care is an investment that keeps on giving. Going without it increases your chances of encountering a dental issue requiring extensive and expensive treatment in the future.
Keep in mind that most people who have to bear the pain and discomfort of oral diseases don’t have access to affordable preventative care. This leads them to avoid a minor issue until it escalates and becomes more expensive.
All to say, if you can afford preventative dentistry, get it. The longer you put it off, the more you’ll have to pay to fix a dental problem in the future.
Preventative Dentistry Deters Systematic Problems
See a dentist in Jacksonville posthaste because your oral health is deeply intertwined with the rest of your body. Poor oral hygiene can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory infections.
Several theories are behind this correlation, with some suggesting that the problems are caused by inflammation. In contrast, others point to the bacteria infecting the oral cavity, traveling to the blood vessels.
While there are a dime a dozen theories, most experts agree that the relationship between oral and physical health is anything but spurious. In other words, when you care for your gums and teeth, you notice its impact beyond the oral cavity.
Now that you know the importance of preventative dentistry, let’s discuss the measures you can take, starting with routine visits to your Jacksonville dentist.
Routine Dental Check-ups
Before the pandemic, experts recommended biannual dental check-ups. However, that changed after people lost access to non-essential healthcare. It led to several studies, with most concluding that while visiting the dentist once or twice annually is great, it’s not always necessary.
Some individuals fare better with scheduled preventative care, whereas others can get away with risk-based check-ups. On your first routine visit, your dentist will assess the condition of your oral cavity and make recommendations regarding your visits.
They will check your oral hygiene, diet, and the condition of your teeth, gums, lips, and cheeks. Once the dentist evaluates your condition, they will recommend how often you need preventative dentistry services.
Brushing and Flossing
We don’t have to tell you to brush your teeth twice daily, but we must advise you to use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a fluoride-based cleaning formula to effectively remove plaque and food particles. The latter will start growing bacteria, causing further damage to your oral cavity.
Flossing once a day is also essential in this regard. It will help remove the food particles in areas your toothbrush can’t reach and extract. We recommend flossing after the last meal of your day, if not after every meal.
Consume a Healthy Diet
Everything set on hurting your mouth and body needs sugar to survive. Cancerous growths especially love an acidic and sugary environment. Take that away from them, and they will stay away from your oral cavity and the rest of your body.
Limit your dessert, beverage, and alcohol intake and replace it with healthier options, such as fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. A calcium-rich diet will also help create an alkaline environment, so toss in those leafy greens and nuts. It will strengthen your teeth and bones and keep you in tip-top shape until your next appointment.
Be Mindful of Poor Oral Habits
No amount of preventative dentistry will save you from the pitfalls of nail-biting, teeth grindings, and using your teeth to uncork a bottle on more than one occasion.
Your teeth are not meant for nail-biting or grinding against each other. The friction these actions create slowly chip away at the protective coating (enamel) around your teeth. Once your teeth are exposed, they are vulnerable to cracking and chipping and at the whims of their oral environment.
Overcome these poor habits by using your teeth for what they are meant to do: Bite and grind food and enable you to make certain sounds.
Adopt Stress Management Techniques
Ask any dentist in Jacksonville, and they will tell you that most of the poor oral habits and lack of essential oral care arise from stress. The mental health phenomenon plagues most of the world’s population and may manifest in teeth-grinding and nail-biting behaviors.
Manage your stress to overcome these habits. You can channel your stress with exercise and meditation. If those don’t work, distract yourself with an all-consuming hobby that occupies your mind and hands.
Fix What’s Broken with the Best Dentist in Jacksonville, FL
Before introducing your oral cavity to preventative dentistry, ensure everything is as it should be by booking a dental exam with Jax Smiles Dentistry.
Our Jacksonville dentistry has recently rebranded but its services date back to the 1960s. We have come this far by using revolutionary dental techniques to identify and treat issues. Visit the top dentists in town for anything, from preventative care to professional teeth whitening for kids and adults of all ages.