Preventive Dental Care
If you want to take care of your smile and dental health, then reach out to Alaska Dental Associates in Anchorage, Alaska. Dr. Kyle Triggs and the team are experienced in dentistry and value patients. In addition to providing quality treatment, the team wants to ensure you know about dental care and the importance of preventive dentistry.
There is a lot you can do as preventive measures to maintain your beautiful smile. Here are some steps recommended to prevent cavities and decay, which if left uncared for can lead to more serious dental conditions:
- Brush your teeth twice a day, and floss once a day with a soft-bristled toothbrush, and toothpaste with fluoride.
- Keep a balanced diet, which includes limiting sugar and acidy foods.
- Have a standing appointment with the dentist two times a year to have a dental exam and get your teeth cleaned.
What is Preventive Dentistry?
Preventive dentistry is also referred to as proactive dentistry. Preventive dental care has one goal: to be proactive in protecting your smile from potential damage often brought on by tooth decay, gum disease, and other destructive dental disorders.
Preventive dentistry can play a vital role in helping you prevent these disorders. If not dealt with proactively, your teeth will likely sustain damage and need repair.
We take our role in preventive dental care very seriously, ensuring our patients get regular cleanings and care for their teeth. However, it is easier to perform our role when you perform yours, like taking the usual recommended steps to prevent tooth decay. The more proactive you are in taking those steps each day, the better your chances are of avoiding more serious procedures to repair the damage.
A regularly scheduled visit to our office can help detect and treat early warning signs of damage, before it gets out of hand.
What are the Common Preventive Dental Procedures?
When developing your oral care routine, it’s important to know what we can do professionally in our office to protect your teeth from damage and decay. Here’s some common preventative dental procedures we perform at Alaska Dental Associates:
Cleaning
Even if you are diligent about brushing and flossing, you cannot realistically reach everything with your brush or floss.
Coming to our office to have your teeth cleaned at least twice a year will help get what your brush cannot. The process is safe, simple, and will go a long way in helping you protect your teeth.
Dental Sealants
Many people have the great fortune of having healthier than average teeth. If you happen to be in this category, you may want to consider getting your healthy teeth treated with dental sealants, which are meant to protect your teeth before damage and decay occurs.
Dental sealant is a liquid plastic product, either clear or tooth-colored, that is painted on to the chewing surface of any teeth you wish to protect. The liquid will fill any crevices that have not been breached to allow bacteria through, forming a tight seal.
They’re often done for children or adults with teeth that have not been impacted by cavities.
Dental X-Rays
We utilize digital x-rays to help us uncover issues as quickly as possible and to take care of those same issues as thoroughly as possible. Digital x-rays have been a major advancement in preventive dental care!
Fluoride Treatment
We provide fluoride treatments in our office to help our patients keep their teeth as strong and healthy as possible. Fluoride is exceptional for helping to remineralize teeth that may have become weak through contact with acidic foods of beverages.
Oral Cancer Screening
We perform oral cancer screenings for our patients on a regular basis. Obviously, the importance of screening for oral cancer goes without saying. We want to make sure that our patients have optimal oral health. This means that if there are any indicators that oral cancer might be present, we want them to know about it!
Looking for Preventive Care in Anchorage?
In proactive dentistry, it all starts with you. Once a potential problem has been detected or identified, the very next step is to take action, and that’s where we come in.
Maintaining good dental hygiene by brushing and flossing every day will help keep your teeth mostly clean and healthy. Add these to regular visits to our office for exams and cleaning.
In addition to the regular brushing and flossing, if your teeth are healthy enough to take a treatment of dental sealants, you will gain a formidable barrier to bacteria, stopping them from entering cracks in your teeth.