A beautiful smile is crucial for your self-confidence. Clean and aligned teeth show a lot about how you groom and maintain yourself. There are several ways to maintain a pretty smile, such as a healthy diet, avoiding candy and fizzy drinks, visiting a dentist two times a year, and brushing your teeth after every meal.
You may tend to be careless and avoid going to the dentist because of a lack of concern, not having time, or a bad experience in the past. Whatever the reason may be, regular dental checkups are imperative for your oral health to prevent future consequences. If you don’t believe me, just ask Dr.Normand Bach. Below are the top 6 signs you need to visit a dentist.
1. Toothaches
If you experience pain or sensitivity in your teeth when chewing food, it’s a major sign that you need to visit a dentist; the pain most probably is the result of a cavity. Some other causes for pain and sensitivity in teeth could be an abscess, a broken tooth, or a damaged filling.
2. Swollen or Bleeding Gums
Is there bleeding in your gums when you brush or floss your teeth? Is there blood on your toothbrush? Are your gums red or swollen? If the answer is in the affirmative, then it could be a sign of gum disease, also called periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues that hold your teeth in place. If left untreated, gum disease can lead to tooth loss.
3. Bad Breath
Other than eating food items that can cause breath to smell foul (i.e. onions and garlic) or not brushing your teeth properly, bad breath can be a harbinger for other oral concerns such as gum disease, sinusitis, throat or lung infections, tooth decay or an abscess. An oral infection can also be caused due to bad taste in the mouth.
4. Loose Teeth
Loose teeth are common among children with milk teeth. However, this should not be the case for grown adults since permanent teeth last a lifetime. If you have a loose tooth or teeth then this is a perfect time to visit a doctor as it could be a forerunner of gum disease or worse, oral cancer.
5. Dry Mouth
A healthy mouth is well lubricated by saliva, which washes away food particles and neutralizes the acids produced by plaque. It could be a sign of illness if your mouth feels unusually dry. Your dentist can determine what’s causing dry mouth and suggest ways to restore moisture and protect your teeth.
6. A Sore Not Healing
Canker sores are a common problem, but they normally take about one to two weeks to heal. If you have a sore or bump in the mouth that isn’t healing for some time, then a visit to the dentist is exigent. This could be a sign of candidiasis, a fungal infection, or mouth cancer. Please note that smokers are at a greater risk of developing cancers of the mouth.
Takeaway
You may have your reasons for avoiding a check-up, but don’t forget that a quicker visit may protect you from something worse to come like oral cancer. With that said, if you are a victim to one or more of the signs mentioned in the article above, do yourself a favor and call to make an appointment with a dentist now! A regular check-up will not take much time, and save you from more trouble and trips to the dentist in the future.
