Dental Health

Mark Nieh/Dentist/Dentistry

I'm a dentist. I am writing to inform you of the importance of your dental health and how easy it is for you to maintain it.

I have been practicing for quite some time and it has occurred to me that there is still a vast majority of the people out there who are scared of dentists.

We are, in general, not here to cause you pain. In fact, we want to do the exact opposite, we want to help you to stay away from pain. From simple routine check ups and cleaning visits, you can arrest problems early and limit any potential chronic illness. Dental decays and gum diseases do not start out of no where. Our job as dentists is to advise you on the problems that you have, and how to stop things from deteriorating. This is why we dentists always like to see you regularly every 6 months or so just to make sure nothing is lurking around and that we fix it early. 

Dental cleaning is also very important because no matter how good one brushes and flosses, there are bound to be blind spots to our daily oral hygiene routine. Once dirt/plaque build up around the teeth and are left uncleaned for a long time, they harden and become very difficult to remove (by dentists, led along patients). These hardened plaque, or we call "calculus" or tartar, can cause decays and gum diseases if left on the teeth and gum for too long. 

If you get your teeth checked and cleaned every 6 months (2x a year), the level of calculus build-up may not be so severe, considering that there are still 363 days that you have to clean your own teeth. Think about all the potential problems that can begin within the period. And to think that some people leave their teeth unchecked for years!!! 

Bottomline is, we dentists are big fans of teeth and we want to look after them as much for you as possible. You can let us do so without causing you too much pain if you would just see a dentist regularly. 

Don't leave them until they hurt. Often it is too late by then.

Do not underestimate the importance of a healthy mouth. We use our mouth and teeth more often than we think. Can you imagine if you got no teeth to chew a beautiful meal in front of you? Can you imagine going to a job interview with missing teeth when you smile confidently, or even not able to pronounce a word properly? All these troubles, can be avoided if you would just see a dentist EARLY!

Oh and floss.