Dental Care Month is here! But, Why Does it Matter?
Dental care is an essential part of overall wellness, yet it often gets put off or overlooked as an optional part of your annual, monthly, or even daily self care routine. The reality is, periodontits has been shown in literature to cause 3.5 million years of lived disability, $54 billion lost in economic productivity, and makes up a large part of the $442 billion annually spent on oral diseases.1 There is strong evidence that early identification and even prevention of periodontitis can aid in improved long term health and a decrease of the socioeconomic burden placed on both the individual and society.1 Dental care should be toward the top of your selfcare checklist for not only a lifetime of smiles, but a lifetime of health and happiness to spend with your friends and loved ones.
In May, we in the dental community celebrate dental care month, bringing additional awareness and stress to the importance of proper dental maintenance to not only ensure optimal oral health, but optimal total systemic wellness. But why should you care, really?
Routine Dental Care: Not Just Another Appointment But Essential for Preserving Your Smile
Most people are very familiar with the dental care timeline. Every 6 months, you schedule your appointment with your dentist, get your teeth cleaned, have the dentist check for cavities, fix any problems, and you are on your way. While most may see this process as simply finding problems and fixing them, maintaining and fixing issues as they arise, it is actually an essential part of prevention, catching issues before they start to maintain a healthy smile and keep your original teeth as often as possible and decreasing the financial burden on the patient in the long term.2
Though great advancements have come about over the past few decades with dental implant placement and restorative options, nothing beats being able to save your original teeth and allowing them to work for you for your lifetime.
If you have been putting off your routine dental care for any reason, give us a call today so we can assist in streamlining your oral healthcare journey!
- Tonetti MS, Jepsen S, Jin L, Otomo-Corgel J. Impact of the global burden of periodontal diseases on health, nutrition and wellbeing of mankind: A call for global action. J Clin Periodontol. 2017;44(5):456-462. doi:10.1111/jcpe.12732
- Peres MA, Macpherson LMD, Weyant RJ, et al. Oral diseases: a global public health challenge. Lancet. 2019;394(10194):249-260. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31146-8
