Selecting a dentist seems relatively straightforward – someone who has a degree from a dental school, is on your insurance list, and comes with the recommendation of a friend, and then call for an appointment. But don’t stop there. By being just a little more thorough, you can find a dentist who is a partner in optimizing your total health.Whole Body Health – and a Great Smile
Sure, having a great smile helps your mental outlook. It’s medically proven that self-confidence improves your mental well-being, and may even lead to a better job, and the list goes on. That’s true, but your dental health is tied to your overall physical health in many other ways.
The right dentist can be a partner in helping you manage your overall health. Some of the health problems we help our patients with include:
- Digestive concerns
- Headaches
- Skeletal Problems
- Posture and Back Pain
- Cardiac Health
- Drug Interactions
- Sleep and Breathing Disorders
- Early Cancer Detections
How can a dentist help? In surprisingly simple (but important) ways.
Diagnosing a bad bite is just one example. Far more than a minor inconvenience, malocclusion can cause digestive and nutrition problems. Food needs to be thoroughly chewed to be properly digested and to deliver its maximum nutritional value to your body. Malocclusion can also cause skeletal problems. Often, a poor bite contributes to head-forward posture, which can spiral into a wide variety of problems that are painful, affect your ability to sleep soundly, and even trigger nerve problems.
Discovering Sleep Breathing Disorders, or Sleep Apnea can save your life. Research has shown that having Sleep Apnea on average shortens the life of those affected by 8 years. The proper screening and having this discussion early is very beneficial to you.
Receiving routine Blood Pressure Checks helps you screen for early detection of hypertension, and can identify if you need to see your physician. You see you dentist much more often than you see your Doctor, so frequent checks of your blood pressure can help guide you to better health and a longer life.
The Hygiene team will show you how to maintain good oral health to prevent bacterial infections that can lead to heart problems. It has been confirmed that you will live an average of 13 years longer by seeing your hygienist and dentist for checkups twice a year. This sounds quite astounding but is true!
Other specific problems a dentist can help you troubleshoot include
The Right Dentist is Part of a Healthy Routine
Getting regular dental checkups is about as exciting as wearing your seat belt. Maybe we should all get more excited about good habits!
Maintaining those regular appointments can be important for far more than you appearance. While whiter teeth and fresh breath are the “carrots” many of our patients use to keep them in the habit of maintaining regular appointments, seeing a health-oriented dentist regularly gives you an edge on spotting medical problems while they are small and easy to treat.
Dr. Sheridan is trained in Neuromuscular dentistry and in treating many problems associated with the head, teeth, jaws and entire neuromuscular system. He understands that many patients are spurred to make an appointment because they are in pain, but there are so much benefits to had by regular checkups from your dentist. Regular checkups are so much more than “just a cleaning”, so choose your dentist wisely.
If you agree, maybe it’s time you made that call.