Why An Allowance For Teeth Cleaning Should Remain In Your Shrinking Budget
If you've found yourself cutting more and more costs lately, you may have wondered if periodic costs, like teeth cleaning and eye exams, could be put off a bit to give your budget some breathing room. If you're talking about putting it off for a month, maybe, but if you're trying to find items you can cut for longer periods of time, look elsewhere. Your teeth need regular dental attention, even if they look healthy to you.
Gum Problems Can Build Swiftly
Of particular concern are your gums. While proper brushing and flossing can keep them quite healthy, they are still subject to hidden issues like bits of food getting stuck under the gum line without you noticing. Plus, there is a chance that maybe you haven't been brushing and flossing as well as you should have. Your gums can go from looking good to looking as if they might be developing gingivitis rather quickly. A teeth-cleaning session at your dentist's office can spot problems like these and fix them.
Decay Can Stand up to Your Toothpaste
Sometimes the bacteria on your teeth are just determined to stick around, literally, and brushing doesn't remove all of the bacteria. It is possible to have cavities that don't hurt and that aren't visible when you open your mouth and look at your teeth in a mirror. While you would need x-rays to fully diagnose a cavity, a cleaning session allows the dentist to look for darker patches that could indicate a forming cavity.
Too Much Tartar -- Enough Said
Tartar is even harder to avoid completely. Even the best brushing and flossing job will still miss a few hidden spots, and tartar can build up very quickly. This is the stuff that the dental assistant has to scrape off your teeth during a cleaning. The more often you go in for a cleaning, the more tartar you're likely to have -- and the more of that scraping sound you'll have to put up with as the tartar is removed.
Cleanings are usually among the more affordable procedures at a dental office. Sometimes, if it's been a while since you've been in, you might be told you have to get X-rays as well. But good dental offices realize that a cleaning alone is better than nothing. Let the office know that you can't pay for X-rays if you're truly low on cash but that you need to get your teeth cleaned.