Routine professional dental care, even if it is as simple as tooth and gum examinations or deep dental cleaning procedures, is critical for life-long good oral health. It is highly unlikely that anyone would be able to retain all of their natural teeth without having received dental care at the hands of a qualified dentist in Tunbridge Wells at some point in their lives.
According to figures released by the latest Great British Oral Health Report, one-third of the British adult population suffers from untreated tooth decay. Tooth decay is one of the principal reasons why adults lose their permanent teeth.
One of the first duties of the dental practitioner in a dental appointment is to conduct a close examination of teeth and gum health, where the dental practitioner will look for troubling changes in the mouth or signs like the build-up of plaque or the formation of cavities. Once a problem has been identified, the dental practitioner can suggest a suitable treatment plan to prevent the problem from escalating further.
It is widely accepted that dental appointments do not rank high on anyone’s to-do list yet these visits are all-important in protecting oral health and preventing unwanted dental issues. Why then do people avoid the dental chair? More than half the population in the UK (53 per cent) cite dental phobia as their main reason for avoiding professional dental care.
What is dental phobia?
Dental phobia is a form of fear in which a person finds the thought of sitting in the dental chair nerve-wracking. This fear can manifest itself as minor anxiety or nervous feelings or all-out panic. For some who are unfortunate to experience deep levels of dental phobia, it can mean not receiving dental treatment at all, not even when it is desperately needed.
Why is it so important to beat dental phobia?
The primary role of a dental practitioner is to secure dental health. In doing this, there is less likelihood of a patient being traumatised by painful dental emergencies and having to endure long-drawn-out treatment processes to treat dental diseases and rehabilitate the mouth back to good health and function.
A spin-off of good dental health is a healthier mind and body. A lovely healthy smile boosts mental wellbeing as well as a stronger physical body. Good oral health has benefits for the immune system and cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
The bad oral bacteria that exist in the mouth and that threaten oral health with the increased risk of dental diseases like gum disease and tooth loss are also a significant threat to the heart and lungs. Studies have provided evidence of bad oral bacteria in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems where they trigger all sorts of problems from inflammation to strokes to pneumonia and heart attacks.
Overcoming dental phobia to get timely treatment to sort out dental problems is the best way to maintain good oral health and avoid unnecessary pain. In addition to this, finding ways to manage dental anxieties goes a long way to keeping the heart and lungs healthy too.
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