Taking care of your oral health is full-time work. While daily brushing and flossing go a long way towards preventing cavities and gum disease, you’ll need to visit a dentist for general dental care throughout the year for a thorough checkup and cleaning. Dr. Wayne Myles enjoys the opportunity to “give back” by helping patients prevent diseases that can lead to tooth loss, allowing them to continue to enjoy full, healthy smiles.
Regular dental visits and dental checkups in our Reston, VA dental office include a dental exam and dental cleaning. A dental checkup is a thorough examination of the teeth and gums. Even if you haven’t noticed any signs of tooth decay or a gum infection, these oral problems can often develop in ways that are hard to detect without a professional’s help; if they’re found early on, they can usually be treated more easily.
During a dental cleaning, Dr. Myles can use special tools to get rid of plaque and tartar in any areas that you’ve missed while brushing; afterward, he can polish your teeth to remove stains, creating a fresher look.
In most cases, it’s recommended to visit the dentist twice a year for checkups and cleanings. However, if you have poor oral health in general, you might need to come in more often. Other reasons for more frequent visits include:
Dr. Myles can evaluate the state of your teeth and gums and help determine the frequency of care needed in order to maintain excellent oral health.
Of course, we highly encourage you to be proactive in cavity prevention through regular brushing and flossing, but by themselves, these practices may not be enough. There are a lot of areas in your mouth that you need to keep clean, and it can be very easy to miss certain places. The back teeth in particular tend to develop cavities because they’re harder to reach and effectively clean. Worse, plaque that’s hardened into tartar can’t be removed through regular brushing, so if you miss a spot, it might reach the point where you can’t get rid of the problem on your own.
At Smiles by Myles, we’ll get rid of any tartar we find and can identify areas that need particularly close attention. Not only can we thoroughly clean your mouth, but we can also give you advice on improving your own oral hygiene routine.
If Dr. Myles does not discover and treat cavities quickly, they can cause a lot of damage – sometimes irreversibly. To protect your health, you’ll need to undergo costly procedures such as root canal therapy. If you end up needing a tooth extraction, your choices are to get a replacement or leave the space empty (which can cause further health issues). Either option can be costly.
Regular preventive care lets you avoid the financial consequences of needing to address infected or missing teeth. In other words, dental checkups are as good for your wallet as they are for your smile! Ready for your appointment? Request a dental consultation at our Reston dentist office today!
