Dental Services
As children, we’re taught that it’s important to get a dental exam (a.k.a. dental checkup, oral exam) every 6 months. Unfortunately, we’re not taught what such an exam involves. This is why so many people are afraid to go to the dentist. At Cornelius Dental Clinic we don’t want you to be afraid of getting a dental exam. This is why we want to take a moment to help you understand them better, so you’ll feel more comfortable coming to our office.
What Dental Exams Involve
Simply stated, a dental exam is a process that’s used to review your mouth’s health carefully. For this, we must take some x-rays and take a close look at your entire mouth. This is important to have done at least yearly, but preferably twice a year. If you run a high risk of developing gum disease, you may need to see us even more often.
Once you’re in our office and comfortably seated in our chair, we’ll conduct a basic assessment of your tongue, teeth, gums, cheeks, and jaw. This may involve taking x-rays and conducting diagnostic procedures that help us see any decay that may be hiding between your teeth where the human eye can’t see.
Afterward, we’ll clean your teeth and allow you to talk to us about any problems you may be having. During this time, we may also have some questions that we’d like to ask you about your overall health. We’ll ask you these questions because your answers will help us provide you with good advice regarding your diet, and how you can take better care of your teeth between the times when you’re visiting our office. All these things are important because our main goal here is to make sure that your mouth is in good health and that visiting our office is both easy and painless.
After we’ve concluded your exam, we’ll schedule your next appointment, so you’ll know when it’s time to see us again.
Feelings Associated With Dental Exams
Unfortunately, there are some people who are afraid to have their teeth cleaned. This is mainly because they think it’ll be painful. When you take good care of your oral hygiene between appointments, there won’t be any pain. All this is said to encourage you to develop good oral health habits regarding flossing, brushing, and using mouthwash. You can’t afford to forego any of these things, especially flossing because this removes 40% of the plaque that’s on your teeth – something that will make your hygienist’s job easier and your time in our office less painful.
Your teeth may be a bit sore and sensitive after we’ve cleaned them. It’s also possible that your gums may bleed some, which is normal when our tools contact your inflamed gums. These things are more commonly experienced during a deep cleaning though, but we’ll give you some local anesthetic for this.
Hopefully, this information has made you feel comfortable enough to contact Cornelius Dental Clinic at (971) 317-9323 to schedule your next dental exam.