While many people are health conscious and see their doctor when needed, few people feel that oral hygiene matters as much. However, poor oral health can lead to a plethora of other health problems that can affect almost anything, including your heart. Here are just a few reasons why you should never delay important dental work:
Compromised Oral Health
Your mouth’s environment is a delicate balance. Too much of one thing can throw off the balance and damage your teeth. Failure to address issues found in your mouth can result in an imbalance which can only worsen over time. Dangerous bacteria can thrive and cause a lot of damage to your oral and overall health if not treated.
Compromised Physical Health
If you fail to address cavities or other issues in your mouth, this can lead to an abscess. Left untreated, the abscess could spread into an infection of the bone, skin or blood stream causing you serious harm. Once the infection has spread, it can seriously affect more than just your oral health.
Greater Pain And More Extensive Treatment
A small cavity untreated and allowed to grow can eventually get to the root area. The cavity could go from showing no symptoms, to suffering from tooth sensitivity or toothache, to increased pain when eating something sweet, hot or cold or pain while biting down. It could eventually create a hole in the tooth. The simplest treatment for a cavity would be a filling in the affected area. A cavity that has progressed into more of the tooth’s structure or inner layers could be treated using a crown. A cavity that has progressed into the nerve or pulp of the tooth causing it to die would result in a root canal. Each of these three processes gets more labor intensive, painful and can contribute to recovery time for the patient.
Greater Expense
As with any type of medical treatment, the more extensive the work performed the more expensive it will be for the patient. A simple cavity, if addressed in time, could be fixed for minimal cost. Untreated, it could soar to a very expensive fee for root canal or even more expensive if you add the cost of additional medical personnel for an infection that has spread beyond the mouth.
Compromised Physical Appearance
Depending upon the cavity’s location, the patient’s physical appearance could be affected as well. Teeth more visible in the patient’s smile could be affected by the pitting or staining. The treatments used to correct the issue would be visible as well depending upon the materials used to correct the affected area.
Negative Affect to Self Esteem
Dental issues contribute to low self esteem causing limited interaction with peers. The person will not smile or will cover their smile to avoid showing their teeth. Poor health as a result of infection will affect mood which in turn affects self esteem.
Practicing good oral health is good for your teeth and the rest of your body. If you need dental work, it’s important not to delay so you can avoid complicated problems in the future.
Informational credit to Dr. Brian Yim.
