When was your last dental exam?
For many people, regular dental check-ups are not high on their list of priorities. And the reason usually isn't a lack of money or time; nor is it that they forgot to make an appointment. The reason is fear, confirm dentists.
All too often, anxiety causes people to opt out of dental exams altogether. There are numerous examples of dentists having a practice full of patients who, prior to seeing them, had not visited a dentist in years.
Some people are afraid of the unknown. Others are frightened by stories of negative dental experiences from family and friends. Still others associate the dental exam with a feeling of helplessness and a loss of control. Regardless of the cause, fear of the dentist is widespread, affecting as much as 20 percent of the population.
Dentists confirm that people who neglect regular dental exams typically suffer from numerous oral health problems, the most obvious of which is losing their teeth to decay or gum disease. Then there is bad breath, often caused by bacteria that brushing and flossing alone cannot eradicate.
More alarming, however, are recent studies that link gum disease to a host of other more serious medical problems including diabetes, heart disease and premature births. If you have an infection in your mouth, it can compromise your entire immune system, say dentists.
People with chronic gum disease have an increased risk of getting colds and flu, because the immune system is so busy fighting the periodontal infection that it can't take care of the other problems.
Then there are the emotional and psychological aspects of neglecting oral care. The reluctance to smile can really limit your success from a business and a social standpoint.
Finally, the failure to seek routine dental care can result in missed opportunities to diagnose oral cancer in its earliest - and most treatable - stages. A dentist often spots oral cancer before the patient even knows it exists. And the sooner oral cancer is detected, the greater the odds the patient can beat it.
For many people, regular dental check-ups are not high on their list of priorities. And the reason usually isn't a lack of money or time; nor is it that they forgot to make an appointment. The reason is fear, confirm dentists.
All too often, anxiety causes people to opt out of dental exams altogether. There are numerous examples of dentists having a practice full of patients who, prior to seeing them, had not visited a dentist in years.
Some people are afraid of the unknown. Others are frightened by stories of negative dental experiences from family and friends. Still others associate the dental exam with a feeling of helplessness and a loss of control. Regardless of the cause, fear of the dentist is widespread, affecting as much as 20 percent of the population.
Dentists confirm that people who neglect regular dental exams typically suffer from numerous oral health problems, the most obvious of which is losing their teeth to decay or gum disease. Then there is bad breath, often caused by bacteria that brushing and flossing alone cannot eradicate.
More alarming, however, are recent studies that link gum disease to a host of other more serious medical problems including diabetes, heart disease and premature births. If you have an infection in your mouth, it can compromise your entire immune system, say dentists.
People with chronic gum disease have an increased risk of getting colds and flu, because the immune system is so busy fighting the periodontal infection that it can't take care of the other problems.
Then there are the emotional and psychological aspects of neglecting oral care. The reluctance to smile can really limit your success from a business and a social standpoint.
Finally, the failure to seek routine dental care can result in missed opportunities to diagnose oral cancer in its earliest - and most treatable - stages. A dentist often spots oral cancer before the patient even knows it exists. And the sooner oral cancer is detected, the greater the odds the patient can beat it.
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