Ask The Warrior Dentist: What Happens During A Routine Dental Checkup? By Dr. Susan Wells At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

One reason many of us dread going to the dentist for those important checkups – which we should all do on a routine basis at least twice a year – is because we do not know what to expect. We all have some amount of fear of the unknown, and that makes many of us nervous or even reluctant to keep our dental appointments. But by understanding what happens during a typical dental checkup we become better informed, more knowledgeable, and less apprehensive. That’s because most of the time nothing uncomfortable or scary happens – we just sit and relax while the dentist checks our teeth and cleans them to make our teeth look brighter and more attractive. Then we can be on our way with that new smile and smooth-feeling sparkly teeth.

Basically what occurs during a routine dentist office checkup is that the dentist – or the assistant to the dentist – thoroughly checks the teeth and gums. They look for any signs of decay, disease, damage, or anything else that might become a potential problem for our dental health. While probing and checking they can discover any places where the gums are swollen, the tooth enamel is weak, or there are stains and cavities. They also check any prior repairs, crowns, or fillings that are in the mouth, to ensure that they are secure and are doing their job and not coming loose or leaking around the edges where they are tightly set into the tooth.

If trouble is spotted, the dentist will explain it to you and then describe various options and treatment plans. The dentist might discover pockets of decay, for example, and then take X-rays to get a closer look at the tooth. If the cavity is minor the dentist may just clean it and keep an eye on it to make sure it does not get worse. If necessary the dentist may need to fill cavities to make sure that the decay does not continue to go deeper into the body and root of the tooth, where it can become a serious threat to your dental health. Sometimes the dentist will find a dental filling that needs to be repaired or replaced – especially when patients have old fashioned metal fillings that tend to corrode, come loose, and even crack the tooth they occupy. If the gums appear to be diseased, the dentist will likewise give them a closer examination and recommend any procedures or therapies to remedy them and bring them back to optimum health.

But many times the checkup reveals no problems at all. In that case the dentist just gives the teeth a good cleaning and polishing – using special types of toothpaste that leave the surface of the teeth gleaming and feeling fabulous. Especially if we do a good job of taking care of our teeth between visits to the dentist – by brushing properly and flossing on a regular basis – the visits can even become an event that we start to look forward to on the calendar.

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