Pain is a great warning system in the body, for example, if you touch something that’s hot, the pain will make you pull the hand back, leaving you with only a minor burn that will heal quickly. In contrast, dental pain often means that the tooth needs to be extracted or needs a root canal. This means that going to the dentist when a tooth is hurting already is a little too late to save a living tooth.

This is why regular visits to the dentist are important, to catch something before it turns into pain and tooth loss. This isn’t just a matter of pain avoidance, regular visits to the dentist can also help you save money in the long run since it can help prevent the need for complicated and costly procedures that result from poorly maintained teeth or gums.

A good analogy for this is comparing it to high blood pressure. People regularly go to their general practitioner and are very concerned if they hear they have high blood pressure. High blood pressure doesn’t cause pain and people don’t go to the doctor because they feel pain from high blood pressure. People go to to the doctor as part of regular maintenance and that’s where they find out about high blood pressure. The same should hold true to going to the in dentist. In fact going to the dentist has the added benefit that it comes with a cleaning that actively prevents gum disease from happening.

It’s not just about gum disease, as important as preventing gum disease is. Going to the dentist is also about the x-rays and dental examinations. With an x-ray a dentist can tell if there are emerging issues within the tooth that are not visible to the naked eye. The dentist can also look at old silver fillings and see if they are causing cracks or if there is decay hiding under them. Catching these issues early is key to preventing them from becoming costly and potentially dangerous issues later on.

It’s also important to note that infections in the mouth don’t just stay in the mouth. Scientists have found a connection between non-painful infections of oral bacteria and heart disease and dementia. The importance of a healthy mouth cannot be understated.

If you live near North Andover and want to take charge of your dental health, North Andover Dental Partners will be glad to set you up with a comprehensive dental examination with one of our dentists in North Andover.