What Does a Dentist Look for During a Dental Checkup?

Regular dental checkups in Oshawa are essential to monitor oral health. The purpose is to detect any concerns as soon as possible, and before they can cause larger problems. Below are some of the issues we may look for during a regular dental exam at Margolian Dentistry, and what to expect during your visit.

Discussing Your Concerns

During this visit, we will ask if you have any concerns about your dental health or have noticed any issues. It’s important to let us know about any symptoms so we can tailor your exam accordingly.

Reviewing Your Medical Health

We always ask patients if there have been any changes to their medical health before beginning any treatment. It’s essential we know about any changes, especially any medication you may have been prescribed, as this could affect the treatment we recommend.

We always want to ensure that every procedure we recommend is safe and appropriate.

Gum Disease

Catching gum disease early is vitally important, as this condition is unfortunately very common and, during the initial stages, causes few, if any, symptoms. During your dental exam, we carefully examine the gums around your teeth for signs of infection or inflammation.

Our dentist may use a periodontal probe that is carefully inserted between each gum and tooth. Its purpose is to measure the depth of these spaces, as a depth greater than 3 mm can indicate gum disease. Other signs we are looking for include gums that bleed easily, especially when gently probed, or that look red, swollen, and may feel tender when we lightly touch them.

Tooth Decay

Cavities in Whitby are another common problem. We visually examine teeth for signs of tooth decay and gently probe the tooth enamel for weak or soft spots.

Digital dental x-rays are invaluable for showing areas hidden from view, including the contact areas between teeth. These contact areas are where cavities can often begin to develop.

Oral Cancer

Dentists are specifically trained to detect signs of oral cancer in Ajax. We visually examine the soft tissues of your mouth for any signs of lumps, bumps, or discolouration. These tissues include the insides of your cheeks, lips, and gums, the roof and floor of your mouth, and your tongue.

Bruxism

Teeth clenching and grinding, a condition called bruxism, is often a nocturnal habit. Without treatment, it can significantly damage teeth, wearing them down and can cause gum recession.

Untreated bruxism can affect your jaw joints, called temporomandibular joints, causing them to become inflamed and painful. A dental exam can quickly identify any signs of bruxism. If so, we will ask you about any other symptoms you may experience, such as waking up with a painful, aching jaw, a headache or frequent earache.

During a dental exam, we will check how your teeth bite together and may ask you to open and close your mouth and move your jaw from side to side. Digital dental x-rays can help us assess your jaw joints further, or we may suggest you have a cone beam CT scan, a 3-D digital image that provides a lot of clear information about your teeth, jawbone and jaw joints.

Reviewing Our Findings

After completing our dental exam, we can discuss our findings with you, and if we think you need treatment, we will provide a custom plan. Our dentist will carefully review the plan with you, explaining all possible treatment options, their prices, and why we think you will benefit from each procedure.

We welcome questions about your oral health and make time to answer them. Patient education is important to us because the more you understand about your oral health, the easier it is to maintain it at home.