Part of keeping your smile healthy is attending a checkup and cleaning appointment at least once every six months. While that’s common knowledge, many people fail to stick to that routine consistently, which significantly increases their risks of experiencing preventable conditions like tooth decay and gum disease. At our Lafayette, LA, dental office, we encourage everyone to schedule and attend their routine visits consistently to help avoid the development of serious oral health issues. During each visit, we’ll not only thoroughly check your teeth and gums for signs of trouble, but also carefully remove every trace of harmful plaque and tartar and help you improve the future of your oral health.
The professional cleaning part
Cleaning your teeth is the most fundamental part of preventive dental care. Ideally, you should do it every day at home, by brushing them at least twice and flossing them at least once. However, this will only effectively remove the plaque that oral bacteria form on your teeth. The calcified forms of plaque, or tartar, that remain will not react to your toothbrush and floss. It can only be removed with professional equipment during your routine dental cleaning appointment. Your dentist or hygienist will carefully remove every all spots of the biofilms from your teeth and along your gum line, preventing the bacteria within them from causing harm to your teeth and gums.
Grading your dental hygiene
The goal of your dental checkup, or examination, isn’t to judge, but to gauge how well you’ve kept up with your hygiene since your last visit. A comprehensive visual inspection will help us spot signs such as compromised tooth enamel, receding or irritated gums, unseen damage to a tooth, and more. We’ll also perform a thorough oral cancer screening to check for signs such as ulcers, lumps, red or white patches of skin, rough or irritated tissues, and more. For more detailed diagnostic results, we may also take digital X-rays of your teeth, gums, and oral structures, which are produced immediately to save time during your visit.
Planning your smile’s future
If we spot signs of concern during your routine examination, then the next step will be to thoroughly diagnose the concern and design a customized treatment plan to address it. The sooner a dental health issue is detected and treated, the less chance it has to impact your long-term oral health. For example, failing to treat tooth decay in time can lead to the need for root canal treatment, or tooth extraction. Allowing gum disease to progress can lead to tooth loss and the need for a customized dental prosthesis.
Schedule a checkup and cleaning today
Dental checkup and cleaning appointments are the most important professional dental treatment, and these are just a few of the reasons why. To learn more, or to schedule a consultation, call the office of Michael J. Young, DDS, in Lafayette, LA, at 337-237-6453. We proudly serve patients who live in Breaux Bridge, Broussard, Scott, Youngsville, and all surrounding communities.
