Dental Checkups
In order to maintain optimal oral health, patients are encouraged to go for a basic dental check-up with our general dentists, once every six months.
Importance of Dental Checkups
These are several reasons why regular dental checkups are important in order to maintain your oral health.
+ Regular dental checkups prevent plaque, tartar, cavities and tooth decay
Even if you’re generally a fastidious person, it’s not an easy task to clean the hard-to-reach places in your mouth. A good example is the back molars, which are notoriously hard to clean. That is simply why it’s recommended that one should see a dentist every six months.
Our general dentists at KL Dental Implant Clinic would examine the patient’s teeth to look for early signs of tooth decay. If they find small cavities or the presence of any white spots on the teeth, they would then start the patient on fluoride treatment to reverse the tooth decay and treat larger cavities with dental fillings to prevent further damage to the tooth and gums.
Next, a professional tooth cleaning is performed to remove plaque or tartar from the teeth and gums. This would then protect the teeth and gums from harmful bacteria that often make their home in plaque and tartar and breed very quickly.
+ Routine dental checkups keep gum disease at bay
For the most part, early stages of gum disease have typically little to no symptoms. This makes it very hard for a person to detect gum disease in their mouths. Luckily, they our trained and experienced dentists at KL Dental Implant Clinic are trained to spot gum disease even when it tries to hide.
During a routine checkup, our dentists would make sure that the gums are firm. They would check for swelling, receding gums and deep gum pockets. If the dentist finds any of these worrying symptoms, they would then treat the underlying cause.
Usually, early gum disease can be completely cured when a patient improves their general oral habits, and our friendly dentists would gladly guide you patient on how to better take care of your gums.
+ Dentists use routine checkups to check for oral cancer
What’s not common knowledge is that, in addition to examining the teeth and the gums, a dentist would also look for signs of oral cancer in a patient’s mouth. This is critical because often if oral cancer goes undetected, it could develop into a life-threatening illness over time.
The use of a special light to look for dead tissue caused by tumours is usually the primary method employed to do so. This type of oral examination is called a VEL Scope cancer exam. It is completely painless and only takes a minute or two at most.
By incorporating this exam, someone who sees their general dentist every six months has little chance of developing late-stage oral cancer.
+ Routine checkups can detect systemic health issues
Another important part of dental checkups is the head and neck exam. A dentist may check the lymph nodes, neck and jaws for swelling, lumps, deformities and any other symptoms of illness. If an issue is found, the dentist would refer the patient to the appropriate medical professional to be investigated further.
In summary a regular visit to your general dentist at KL Dental Implant Clinic is something you should always bear in mind to maintain your optimal oral health and to maintain your quality of life. Routine visits to your general dentist is often a critical part of ensuring that your teeth continue to serve you for the rest of your life healthily.
Do remember to schedule your regular dental appointment at the KL Dental Implant Clinic every 6 months to maintain your optimal oral health.
Medical History Review
At KL Dental Implant Clinic, we start on your first visit by taking a detailed medical history of yourself. This helps us form a baseline and identify any problematic areas or special treatment procedures that we have to take into account when addressing your concerns.
Oral Health Analysis
One of our trained and experienced dentists would then start by doing a through oral health analysis to identify any problems or issues that you may have. We also routinely advise patients on their general oral health and measures you could take to improve it further.
OPG X-Ray Imaging
If necessary. your dentist may require that you take an OPG X-Ray Imaging which can be arranged in-house at KL Dental Implant Clinic to take a closer look at a problematic area. This helps to identify issues such as the requirement to do a filling, gum health etc.
Treatment Planning
Once our dentists have enough information at hand to form a treatment plan to address your issues, these would be discussed in length with you – to ensure that you’re aware of the procedure, complications, cost and other concerns that you may have regarding your treatment plan.
