As far as your oral health is concerned, prevention is even more significant since your teeth cannot repair the damage and infections on their own. Preventive oral care often involves scheduling regular dental appointments and following an efficient oral care hygiene routine.
What Is Preventative Dental Care?
Preventative dental care focuses on your oral health to keep your teeth and gums healthy. It aims to implement measures to prevent cavities, gum diseases, enamel wear and protect your oral structures. Brushing and flossing your teeth, availing regular dental checkups, all these measures fall under preventive dentistry.
Benefits of Preventive Dentistry
- Promotes good oral hygiene practices, such as brushing and flossing twice a day
- Prevents your oral cavity from tooth decay, gum disease, and other serious dental problems
- Early identification of dental issues that help in minimizing treatment duration and cost involved.
- Prevents dental issues related to chronic medical illness, such as diabetes, cancer, and eating disorders.
Preventive Dental Services
Checkups & Cleanings
Our hygienists will comprehensively remove the plaque and tartar accumulations from your teeth and gums during a dental checkup and cleaning. In addition, we will perform a thorough examination, using digital X-rays when necessary, to identify signs that may require suitable preventive and restorative treatments.
Besides making your teeth feel encrusted and, in time, becoming obvious, plaque deposits also contain bacteria that are harmful to your oral structures. Brushing and flossing help control plaque, but its more stubborn form, tartar, cannot be removed with toothpaste and water. A professional cleaning will remove the sticky film and prevent common oral problems like cavities, chronic bad breath, and gingivitis.
Children’s Dental Care
One of the most chronic conditions to affect young children’s dental health is tooth decay. It begins when bacteria, plaque, and food debris are left behind on your child’s teeth, eventually damaging the protective enamel layer and infecting the underlying tooth structure.
Childhood cavities can be prevented with fluoride and dental sealant applications. Fluoride, a naturally-occurring mineral, can help strengthen the tooth’s enamel, protecting your child’s teeth. Dental sealants composed of thin, clear acrylics will act as an additional barrier, shielding the nooks and crannies of a tooth’s surface where plaque tends to accumulate easier.
Bruxism/TMJ Treatment
Gingivitis and cavities are not the only things that can affect your oral health. Bruxism, or the involuntary tendency to grind your teeth, can lead to severe dental damage. TMJ disorder, a dysfunction of your jaw’s joints, can also cause extreme discomfort and is often closely related to the presence of bruxism. When treating bruxism or TMJ disorders, we recommend a custom-fabricated oral appliance that can protect your teeth from grinding or hold your jaw in a more comfortable position to ease tension on your jaw’s temporomandibular joints (TMJs).
At Grace & Leedy Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, we provide dental solutions to improve your oral health while transforming smiles. Visit our office at 10881 West Asbury Ave. Suite 210, Lakewood, CO 80227, or call Dentist Lakewood CO at (303) 989-0452 and schedule an appointment.