You’ve probably been hearing about the importance of brushing, flossing, and seeing your dentist regularly your whole life. Well, it’s time to listen.

While accidents happen and teeth can get cracked, broken or otherwise damage, many severe dental problems could likely have been avoided through consistent preventative dental care.

What is Preventative Dental Care?

Preventative dental care means exactly what it sounds like – taking care of your teeth and keeping them clean and healthy to prevent the need for invasive, uncomfortable, expensive treatments down the road.

There are two main types of preventative dental care. These are a home-based oral hygiene routine, and regular visits to your family dentist.

A home-based oral hygiene routine should be taught early. It’s very important to brush your teeth twice a day and floss daily. This type of simple, routine dental care will keep the teeth, gums, and tongue clean, removing bacteria that can lead to plaque buildup and eventually tooth decay, and washing away stains that can leave the teeth discoloured. It’s never too early to start.

Children can begin to learn how to care for their mouth and gums before their teeth even break through the surface. For infants, ‘brushing their teeth’ is often introduced by rubbing the gums to help loosen and remove any sugars or bacteria left by their diet or anything interesting that they pick up and put in their mouths. As children grow, making brushing, and eventually flossing, a consistent part of their daily routine is an excellent way to get them into the habit of caring for their teeth in a preventative manner.

While a proper routine of brushing and flossing is extremely important and goes a long way to prevent serious dental problems from occurring, the fact is that dental problems still occur, and the easiest way to identify areas of concern and prevent small problems from becoming big problems is to visit your St. Jacobs Dentist regularly.

Regular dental visits (every 6-9 months is recommended) allows your dentist, hygienist, and dental assistant to examine your mouth, tongue, gums, and teeth to look for signs of decay, inflammation, infection, and even check for symptoms of oral cancer. Things like tooth decay, gum disease, and any lumps and bumps that could be an early sign of something more nefarious, are often easy to treat when they’re identified early by a dental professional.

Are you confident that your preventative dental routine is up to par? Has it been a while since you visited your dentist in St. Jacobs? Call the team to set up an appointment today. We’ll assess your current situation and get you back on track to optimal oral health.