Preventive Dentistry
The old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” was never truer than it is in dentistry. When you think about your oral health and the significant impact it can have on your overall wellness, you can see that keeping your family’s smiles healthy should be a priority.
Maintaining optimal oral health for your family involves a team effort that includes you and your dentist. At Renaissance Family Dentistry, Dr. Suman Vidyarthi provides preventive dental exams and cleanings, and you do your part with conscientious brushing and flossing at home and a healthy, nutritious diet.
Gum Disease and the Oral-Systemic Link
You may have recently heard that researchers have discovered a connection between your health and your overall health and wellness. They have determined that inflammations that start in your mouth can travel to many other parts of your body. While studies in this area are ongoing, we do know that dozens of diseases produce oral symptoms, and chronic gum disease can also contribute to heart and lung disease, diabetes, dementia, arthritis, pre-term births, and many others.
What Is Preventive Dentistry?
Preventive dentistry involves dental exams and cleanings and the treatment your family needs to stay a step ahead of oral disease. What that involves varies from person to person, so the first step is to meet with Dr. Suman so they can examine your teeth and gums and develop a treatment plan to resolve any issues.
Comprehensive Dental Exams and Cleanings
When our dentists perform a comprehensive examination, they can learn more about your oral health than how clean your teeth are. For example, bleeding gums and bad breath are often signs of gingivitis but can also indicate diabetes.
When you become our patient, our dentists start by gathering some information about you, including your dental and medical history and any prescription medications you take. They’ll ask you about any concerns that you would like us to help you with, then perform a complete head and neck exam and oral cancer screening.
We will take digital x-rays if yours aren’t current, as well as intraoral photos of your teeth and mouth. You will be part of this process, and our dentists will share the images on your chairside monitor.
Setting Up Your Treatment Plan
If we don’t find any current evidence of gum disease, we will clean your teeth the same day as your comprehensive exam visit. If we do find issues, your dentist will discuss their findings with you and establish an individualized plan for treatment going forward. We will obtain pre-treatment estimates from your insurance company and arrange future dental appointments as needed to get your oral health back on track.
A healthy smile is easy to achieve with preventive dentistry, and we would love to help you achieve your oral health goals. At Renaissance Family Dentistry, we provide dentistry for families in Durham and its surrounding communities of Chapel Hill, Research Triangle Park, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, and Raleigh. Please call us to schedule a dental exam and cleaning to get started.
