POV: Oral Care Is Essential Healthcare
When you think about the things you do to stay healthy, do you think about your oral healthcare routine? If not, let us convince you why you should be considering dental care as an essential part of your overall healthcare.
What Is Essential Healthcare?
You take care of your body every day when you choose healthy foods, drink water, and exercise. You’re also taking care of your body when you brush and floss your teeth. You visit your primary care physician once or twice a year for a physical to ensure your body is functioning properly and there’s no sign of underlying disease. You visit your dentist twice a year for the very same reason! That’s essential healthcare.
You Can’t Do Much Without Your Mouth
Your mouth is an essential part of your body, just like your ears, arms, and knees. If you don’t believe that, try to imagine what your life would be like without the ability to use your mouth. Think about how much your quality of life would suffer if you couldn’t chew food, swallow, speak, laugh, smile. It’s not a pleasant thought. Thankfully, with proper, essential oral healthcare, your chances of keeping all of those abilities throughout your life are very high.
You’re Already Doing 90% of the Work at Home
You’re taking care of your teeth and mouth when you brush and floss at home every day and night. That’s already most of the work. If you’re visiting NYC Smile Spa on the Upper East Side for routine hygiene examinations and cleanings you’re 100% there!
At-home oral healthcare combined with regular visits to our office reduces your risk of serious health problems because what happens in your mouth affects the rest of your body. Here are a few examples:
- An untreated infection in your mouth can enter your bloodstream and move to another part of your body, possibly ending up in your heart or lungs
- Diseased teeth can become painful and eventually break, chip or fall out, causing you to alter your diet, ultimately compromising your overall nutrition
- Tooth decay will never heal on its own; it will spread, eventually causing the tooth to crack, break, or fall out
- Missing teeth will cause your jawbone to weaken over time will lead to more teeth shifting out of place, and falling out
- Untreated gum disease will progress into a serious infection, which can easily lead to tooth loss
In addition to a consistent and thorough daily at-home oral hygiene routine, visiting NYC Smile Spa every four to six months can prevent all of these issues from happening.
Don’t Delay Essential Oral Healthcare
If you’ve been putting off a dental appointment for any reason, we urge you to call our office located on the Upper East Side to schedule one as soon as possible. Some oral diseases, including tooth decay, gum disease and the early stages of oral cancer, are only detectable with close examination or X-ray imaging. Beyond that, brushing and flossing alone can’t remove 100% of the plaque from your teeth, no matter how consistent you are with brushing and flossing. You need a dentist’s expertise and special tools to get it all.
When you look at yourself in the mirror, we hope you see a happy, healthy person smiling back at you, and if not we want to help you get there. If you’re overdue for a hygiene exam and cleaning, call NYC Smile Spa today for an appointment, no matter how long it’s been. We’re always happy to hear from patients like you!
Your friends at NYC Smile Spa
