The Top 3 Things You Need to Know about Dental Health
1 – Bleeding Gums is serious trouble.
- Healthy gums don’t bleed. Bleeding when brushing or flossing is not normal.
- Long term gum infection contributes to the leading causes of death and disability in America – heart attacks and stroke.
- Long term gum infections can also contribute to diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and other inflammatory illnesses.
2 – Prevention saves time, trouble, and money.
- The cost of fixing one cavity will pay for many fluoride treatments.
- Using x-rays to find, and then fixing a small cavity, is much less expensive and more fun than treating an abscessed tooth.
- Fixing a cracked tooth is often much less expensive that restoring it after it splits, or replacing it if it is beyond repair.
3 – Oral cancer:
- Oral Cancer is a lot more common than you think – it kills approximately one American every hour of every day.
- The death rate is higher than that of breast cancer, colon cancer, cervical cancer, or prostate cancer.
- 5 year survival rate is only 57% because it is often discovered too late.
- HPV (herpes type virus) can cause oral cancer. Increasing numbers of healthy young adults who don’t smoke are being diagnosed with oral cancer.
- Early detection is the key to successful treatment – this is best performed by your dentist and hygienist.