Skipping Routine Teeth Cleaning Can be Costly

Nobody likes getting their teeth cleaned, and it sometimes feels like it’s a waste of time and money. You might find your teeth look the same afterwards and it’s just not that important. It’s time to change that attitude.

You can and almost certainly will incur high dental costs if you avoid this regular appointment for too long. Just like a car, without regular maintenance and attention, your teeth will start to develop more serious problems. It’s recommended that you have your teeth examined and cleaned at least once a year.

Even if it seems like teeth cleaning is just a superficial task, there are serious healthy-related reasons why it should be done regularly. All of these can lead to expensive procedures later on, and you’ll wish you took the time to get your teeth cleaned. So, what kinds of problems can you avoid with regular teeth cleaning?

Gum Disease

Brushing and flossing at home does a pretty good job of keeping teeth clean but it’s not perfect. There is still often a buildup of bacteria-rich plaque on our teeth that is a health hazard if not taken care of regularly. All that constant bacteria starts to effect your gums, and will lead to gum disease. At first, there may not even be any symptoms that this has begun. Eventually, you’ll have tender gums that bleed and chronic bad breath.

Left unchecked, this can get worse and your gums will shrink back leaving you with loose teeth. You can imagine how expensive that will be to fix. Regular cleaning is the smartest way to avoid this potential cost.

Cavities

A thorough cleaning can get any food or plaque build-up out from those hard-to-reach crevices between your teeth. Otherwise, your tooth enamel can start to dissolve from the constant contact with sugars and acids in the food particles. That means holes in your enamel, also known as a cavity.

Not only can regular cleaning prevent the development of cavities, your dentist can catch them when they are small if he or she is seeing you often. That means smaller fillings and less costly dentist bills. Painful cavities will grab your attention on their own, but ones that don’t hurt can go undetected for a very long time unless someone is checking on your teeth.

Staining

While not a medical problem, this is the biggest problem that develops if you skip that professional cleaning. When you get your teeth cleaned every year, you may not realize just how stained they’ll get once the cleaning stops. It’s so gradual. But all of a sudden, years down the road, you will stop and notice how yellow and shaded your teeth have gotten. Unfortunately, it will be too late for a cleaning by then. You’ll be paying for professional bleaching treatments or even veneers to cover years of discoloration.

So you see, there are more serious risks you’re taking by skipping that cleaning appointment. A lot of money can end up getting spent because you make that choice now.