Dental Checkups and Teeth Cleanings – Daytona Beach, FL
Keeping Your Smile in Excellent Shape
Taking care of your smile involves more than just diligently brushing and flossing each day. While those habits certainly go a long way toward keeping your smile in excellent shape, you’ll need to see your Lakeside Daytona Dentist at least twice a year, or once every six months, for thorough dental checkups and teeth cleanings in our Daytona Beach, FL dental office. Dr. Gonzalez and Dr. Silva look forward to helping you keep your smile clean, healthy, and free of problems that could ultimately lead to tooth loss. Contact us today to schedule your next checkup and cleaning, or to simply ask more questions.
What Happens During a Typical Dental Checkup and Teeth Cleaning?
Once your mouth has been completely examined, you’ll move on to the second portion of the appointment: the cleaning. One of our skilled dental assistants will use special tools to remove plaque and tartar that may have built up in your mouth since your last cleaning. Tartar, the hardened form of plaque, can actually only be removed by a dental professional, and if it’s not gotten rid of, it can increase your risk of gum disease and cavities. After it’s removed, we’ll give your teeth a thorough polishing to get rid of stains and make your pearly whites shine.
How Often Do I Need to Visit the Dentist?
In most cases, it’s recommended to visit your dentist twice a year, which means once every six months. If, however, you have poor oral health in general, you might need to come in more often than that. Other reasons for more frequent visits with us might include:
- Tobacco use
- Pregnancy which makes gum disease more common
- Cancer treatment
- Certain health conditions like diabetes, HIV, and heart disease
Dr. Silva or Dr. Gonzalez can evaluate your general health as well as the state of your teeth and gums to determine exactly how often you should be coming in for visits.
Why Are Dental Checkups and Teeth Cleanings So Important?
As mentioned earlier, regular checkups and cleanings are the only way to get rid of plaque that has hardened into tartar. Since tartar can increase your risk of gum disease and cavities, it’s imperative that it be cleaned out at least twice a year.
Additionally, issues like gum disease, cavities, and oral cancer are much easier to treat if they are caught early on. They also cost less money to take care of. For example, a tiny cavity could easily snowball into a raging toothache that necessitates a root canal or even a tooth extraction, both of which are significantly more expensive than getting a simple filling. Regular preventive care lets you avoid these issues before they become worse.