Patricia Meredith, DDS, a specialist in the Department of Hospital Dentistry at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Explains the importance of regular dental care:
Why is regular dental care important both for our teeth and our overall general health?
Dental care is important to maintain your teeth and your gums for a lifetime. A healthy mouth requires periodic maintenance. Just like you change the oil in your car to keep your car running properly, a checkup and a cleaning helps keep your teeth and your mouth healthy.
Dental care is very important to your overall health. There have been recent studies that have linked poor dental health to a variety of other health conditions, like heart disease and low birth weight babies. And certainly without healthy teeth, we cannot chew our food or properly digest our food and that leads to poor nutrition and complicates many other health diseases.
When in life should your relationship with a dentist begin?
The first dental visit really should occur by the age of 12 months. And that first dental visit gives the dentist a chance to evaluate the child's teeth and to look for a variety of dental conditions that might include problems with the teeth as they're developing or maybe even some cavities. And at that first visit the parents also learn about dental care for their child, and for the child to have a very positive first visit in which there's not a problem and they can play and have fun with the dentist is very important.
What should take place during a visit to the dentist, and how often should you see a dentist?
How often you see the dentist is really based on your individual needs. Most people see a dentist every six months, but there are some people who benefit from more or less frequent visits, even maybe once a year, and other people maybe three or four times a year. What should take place during the visit depends on what you're there for, but your initial visit to the dentist should include an examination by the dentist and some x-rays to look for cavities and for the health of the bones supporting the teeth. And then a plan about what might need to be done for your dental health.
How can people who may not have seen a dentist in a while get back into the habit?
Getting back into the habit of seeing a dentist starts with making that first visit. That really is challenging for those who are not sure about what dentist to see. And since today is designated "Find a Dentist Day," I think it might be good for us to review some ways to help find a dentist to get that first visit going.
The most obvious way is to have a friend refer you to a dentist or you may have some colleagues or family members that can refer you to their dentist that they're happy with. Another really reliable way is to choose a dentist from an online service and one of the best out there is the Academy of General Dentistry. On their website, click on 'Fnd a Dentist' and locate a dentist in your area that has earned some additional continuing education credits and who is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry.
What about people who are genuinely fearful of seeing the dentist? How can they overcome their apprehension?
Most importantly, those people who are fearful need to realize that they're not alone, that there are a lot of people who have fears of the dentist. Dentistry has changed and improved over the years and experiences they may have had when they were younger are not what dentistry is like today.
A major step in finding a dentist they will not be fearful of is a dentist that they can trust, and a dentist that they can communicate with easily. Sometimes a fearful person might want to have an initial visit that's an interview with the dentist to get to know the dentist. The dental community is used to having a consultation, that's what it's usually called, so the person can call the dentist to make a consultation appointment and get to know the dentist.
What assistance is available for those who do not have dental insurance?
For people who don't have dental insurance, there are several options. First of all, if they would qualify for need-based assistance, they can contact their county social worker and apply for help. There are a number of national and state programs available to those people who qualify for need-based assistance.
Also, many dentists offer payment plans or financing through third parties or even just pay as you go, do one filling at a time and pay for it and as you continue that process, you make progress. |
