Preventative Dentistry: Can Flossing Save Your Life?
Posted on Sat, Feb 18, 2012 @ 08:41 PM
While 
the benefits of preventive dentistry may seem obvious to many people, there are actually several unexpected reasons why maintaining a regular cleaning schedule can save your life!
Cavity Prevention. With regularly scheduled teeth cleanings and x-rays, potential problems can be spotted before they turn into a cavity (or worse).
If cavity prevention on its own isn’t enough to motivate you to practice preventative dentistry, then perhaps knowing that certain conditions in the oral cavity may be an indication of cancer, potential heart attacks, and diabetes will convince you. Several studies have shown that gum disease is associated with an increased risk of heart conditions, diabetes, and pre-term birth.
Oral cancer may begin as a white plaque which would not be obvious to a non-professional. Oral cancer may also present itself in lump, sore, or ulcer form in a painless fashion at first. With regular visits to the dentist, these serious pre-cursors to cancer could be spotted before they have a chance to develop and spread to other areas of your mouth/throat/sinuses.
Most likely you’ve been told at some point that you need to step up your flossing game and be sure to brush twice a day. If you’re anything like me, you stick to a religious hygiene routine following a dental exam, and slowly lose steam as the next 6 months drag on. At some point in that time frame I force myself to answer this question: is flossing once a day worse than oral cancer? Unfailingly, the answer is NO. I recommend using the same scare tactic for yourself and see if it helps!
The next time you’re thinking that you’re too nervous or scared to go to the dentist keep this in mind: preventative dentistry could stop a minor problem from escalating to something severe and potentially life threatening.
Photo credit: Gamma Man