Everyone loves being around a person with a beautiful smile. Having a bright smile is like a sunny day, when the sun is out and shining everyone just seems happier. Smiling not only makes you feel better, but it makes the people around you happier as well.
How would you like the ability to brighten up a room just by flashing your smile? If you take the time to invest in your teeth, this could be you. If you are still on the fence about committing to improving your dental health, here are 10 important reasons why you should consider investing in your teeth.
1. To remove daily damage
Healthy teeth are beautiful teeth. However, your teeth undergo a ton of daily damage. By taking care of your teeth properly, you’ll tend to minimize the amount of damage you do to your smile every single day. Scheduling regular dental cleanings is also part of a healthy dental care routine.
Stains, plaque buildup, and enamel loss occur on a daily basis. If you don’t have a daily tooth care routine, you’ll see the health of your mouth begin to deteriorate. Together with routine dental cleanings by your dentist, a daily routine of brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash, helps ensure that the daily damage to your teeth is minimized.
Healthy teeth are free of stains, cavities, structural damage and puffy, bleeding gums. Even if your teeth aren’t perfectly white, your smile will be much more beautiful if your mouth feels clean and healthy.
2. To improve appearance on special occasions
Sometimes you want your smile to look beautiful for an important event or special occasion. This could be an important job interview, a class reunion, or even a wedding. No matter the event, one thing is for certain, you want to look and feel good and impress everyone around you.
Frankly, you won’t be able to impress anyone if you’re too embarrassed to show your smile by hiding your teeth during conversations or shying away from interacting with people all together because you don’t like the appearance of your teeth.
By having a white smile, your confidence will improve and you’ll be able to make a great first impression. We all know that in today’s fast paced world, first impressions mean everything.
3. For improved oral hygiene
Taking the time to invest in your smile and the condition of your teeth will also improve your overall oral hygiene. When you start to care about the look of your smile, you’ll notice a trend of starting to take care of other areas of your mouth and body as well.
For instance, people who value their smile, tend to floss regularly, brush at least twice a day, and schedule regular dentist visits.
When you have good oral hygiene, you are also minimizing your risk of diseases that can affect your overall physical health. A healthy mouth tends to equal a healthy body, which is definitely something to smile about.
4. To minimize future dental expenses
By keeping your smile and mouth healthy now, by following the recommended oral hygiene routine mentioned above, you will avoid expensive dental procedures in the future.
Often, people don’t recognize the need to visit their dentist for routine checkups and smaller procedures until after they require emergency dentistry services. It is less expensive to cultivate healthy brushing and flossing habits, and visit the dentist regularly for cleanings, than to avoid taking care of your teeth and have to undergo more expensive procedures in the future.
Restorative dental work can be expensive. By taking care of your mouth now you can avoid your chances of having to pay the cost of an expensive dental procedure. Not only can addressing smaller dental problems save you big bucks in the long run, but it can also save you a lot of pain and discomfort. Investing in your teeth on an ongoing basis will keep you from having to experience a dental emergency later on.
5. To keep the rest of your health in check
Your mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body. By maintaing your dental health you also keep the rest of your health in check.
As mentioned above, good oral health influences overall health. For example, bacteria that builds up on your teeth due to a lack of regular brushing and flossing, can end up making your gums more prone to infection. Once the infection occurs, your body starts to attack the infection, which can lead to inflammation.
Inflammation and the chemicals that are produced by it tend to be bad for the gums and can lead to gum disease if undetected and left untreated for a period of time. This inflammation is bad for the entire body and can lead to serious, in some cases fatal, health problems.
Because the mouth has a direct connection to the rest of your body, it means that if your mouth becomes inflamed it can lead to problems throughout the rest of your body. Inflammation that begins in the mouth can actually weaken the body’s ability to process sugars, which can lead to a host of other health problems.
One of the biggest factors between oral and body health is the link between gum disease and heart disease. Although, this connection is still being fully explored, it is clear that over 91% of people who have heart disease also have gum disease.
Doctors believe the link is that inflammation of the gums leads to inflammation of your blood vessels, which then increases your risk of heart disease. This revelation is all the more reason to protect your body by investing in your dental health, and ensuring that you visit your dentist on a regular basis to prevent any serious health problems down the line.
6. To save time
It seems that everything in our lives is done to save us time or make us more productive. However, most people don’t think that taking care of your teeth now can actually save you time in the future.
Consider the impact of a dental emergency on your life. Would you rather have an extensive emergency dental procedure that left you unable to work the rest of the week, or a short routine dental appointment to maintain your oral health?
By scheduling regular dental check-ups, your dentist will be able to spot minor issues before they become large-scale problems that are painful and time-consuming to address. These regular dental visits will be fast and easy if you take the time to take care of your dental health between dental visits as well.
7. To make the most out of your dental benefits
If you have dental insurance, you should take advantage of the cleanings that are covered in your policy. By taking advantage of your benefits now, you’ll be able to avoid costly dental treatments and procedures in the long term, which will make both your wallet and your insurance company happy.
Even if you do not have dental insurance, scheduling regular dental checkups will save you more money in the long run, by preventing the need for more costly procedures that may be necessary if issues are left untreated.
Regular dental visits will also keep you on track with your own dental health routine. Another added benefit of keeping regular dental visits is minimizing the fear that’s often associated with going to the dentist. The more often you go to the dentist, the more comfortable you’ll feel, especially as you realize that your dentist is here to help improve your smile and your oral health.
8. Bad breath prevention
Face it, bad breath can be a huge turn off and even a deal breaker for a first date or a job interview. If you want to make sure you leave the best first impression possible, you will want to make sure your breath is fresh. In some cases, getting fresh breath goes way beyond a simple breath mint to cover the bad odors.
We all know that the consumption of certain foods, such as garlic, can cause a lingering bad odor, though it is only a temporary issue. Persistent bad breath, also known as halitosis, has oral causes. For instance, this chronic bad breath can be caused by poor oral hygiene, periodontal disease, a coating on the surface of the tongue, unclean dentures, food stuck between teeth, throat infections or oral carcinomas.
Bad breath can be a symptom of more serious health issues, which makes it even more important to discuss bad breath problems with your dentist, and get to the root of the issue in order to rule out more serious problems or take preventative measures.
Having a good oral hygiene routine and investing in your dental health can greatly minimize your chances of any of these conditions, and prevent bad breath that may result. The best way to prevent bad breath is to have regular dental checkups and have a healthy oral hygiene routine that involves brushing and flossing. This will ensure that you are confident and not embarrassed by your oral health.
9. To prevent gum disease
Gum disease, or periodontal disease, is a very serious issue. It is a bacterial infection that is caused by plaque buildup. Plaque is the sticky, colorless bacteria that adheres to your teeth and can cause all types of trouble if left untreated.
Even with the best tooth care routine plaque still builds up. That’s where regular dental visits come in especially helpful, as your dental team will ensure that plaque buildup is removed during the teeth cleaning.
Once plaque builds up and hardens, it becomes tartar, which can be very hard to remove. The bacteria within plaque can cause a whole host of issues, and can lead to gum irritation, inflammation and gingivitis, which can cause severe sensitivity and even tooth loss.
Having gum disease can also lead to other health problems as well, such as heart disease.
10. To boost your confidence and self-esteem
Yellow teeth, bad breath, and bad oral health can greatly detract from your smile. Having a beautiful smile that you are proud of can in turn greatly influence your confidence and self-esteem, all of which determine how you interact with those around you.
If you’ve gone from a poor smile and questionable oral health to a great healthy smile, then surely you are aware of the dramatic shift it can bring to your confidence levels.
When you are healthy, your happiness levels naturally improve and you feel more confident, attractive and ready to take on the world. A beautiful smile can help contribute to a more positive self-image and to the way other people evaluate you as well.
If you’re looking for a new job, a better relationship, or a better social circle, an attractive, healthy and confident smile can make a big impact and cosmetic dentistry can help get you there.
If your teeth need improvement or dental work, the 10 reasons to invest in your teeth outlined above should give you more than enough encouragement to schedule your dental appointment today. Your dental health is a great investment to make sooner rather than later. The longer you wait, the more potential painful and expensive problems could arise.
