Why the Six Month Checkup is Your Friend (and other news)

I'm back to blogging!  Its been a very busy past few months for me with a lot of twists and turns.  I'm engaged to be married AND...drum-roll please:

My fiance is pregnant!  We are so excited and can't wait to be parents!  We are currently debating about whether or not to find out the sex, so if you have an opinion feel free to weigh in on our facebook page.

Since there's really no dental segue I can make here, I'll just jump right in to one important point I've been meaning to make on this blog.  Namely, your 6 month hygiene exam (we in the biz don't like to call it a cleaning) is very, VERY important.  What are the benefits, you may ask?  Well, preventing periodontitis and checking for cancerous lesions aside, this exam will absolutely prevent time in the dentist chair, money out of your pocketbook, and pain. 

As you know from my previous posts, there are various treatments for any given cavity.  Small one gets your standard filling -- a thirty minute appointment and you're out the door.  However, larger ones (the kind that may cause a lot of pain) will lead to a root canal, filling, and some sort of crown or onlay.  This fix requires a minimum of three appointments.  Now here's the kicker.  Look at the rough difference in fees between the two scenarios:

Small filling: 100 to 300 dollars or so
Root canal, filling, crown:  2000 to 2500 dollars or so

Though these fees don't take into account insurance, the difference is still substantial.  For most of us, that amount of money makes a difference in our lives and we'd all like to hold on to it...especially in these tough economic times.  But here's the point I want to stress.  There's no middle treatment.  In other words, scenario one can change to scenario two overnight and treatment that could have been short and sweet has become long and tough on the pocketbook.  This is why I can't stress enough the importance of going to your dentist every six months and letting him/her check your teeth as well as take appropriate X-rays.  We can often catch these cavities when they are small and easy to deal with.  This is the reason insurance companies often cover hygiene appointments and X-rays so well.  They know these appointments prevent the expensive work and promote good health practices so they try to entice you to see your dentist regularly by optimally reimbursing for these visits. 

Moreover, those without dental insurance have all the more reason to see us regularly if only to avoid the fees associated with fixing a longstanding cavity.  So come to the dentist!  Let us catch these cavities when they are small!       

My next post will discuss periodontitis and how to prevent it.

-DRS