For adults and children alike, routine check-ups are extremely vital in preventative dentistry and maintaining good oral health in general. It’s a chance for your dentist to check not only your teeth, but your gums, tongue, cheeks and more.
This is why dental professionals around the World advise to not only brush and floss daily, but to also visit a dentist for a routine check-up every 6-12 months, at least.
Many will skip these appointments and only come in when there’s an issue or emergency with their teeth, but this could actually cause more issues, more pain, more complex treatments, more time and even more money down the line.
By detecting and diagnosing any oral health concerns such as cavities, periodontal disease, and even oral cancer early, your dentist is given the best chance to rectify the problems before they get too bad to correct, which could save you unnecessary discomfort, tooth loss and in the case of early oral cancer discovery, your life.

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What happens at a routine dental check-up with North Leeds Dental?

• The dentist will check each tooth sequentially, one at a time in detail using sophisticated magnification and lighting, looking for any cavities, plaque build-up, cracks, or chips in the enamel and more. Often, they will be giving the health information of each tooth to their dental assistant to make notes for your dental records.
• They’ll also check your gum health, checking for any infection, disease, or gum recession. It’s very important to catch anything gum related as early as possible because gums also do not grow back or regenerate.
• They’ll also check your lymph and salivary glands, upper and lower palates, tongue, lips, and soft tissues of your mouth for anything out of the ordinary, including signs of oral cancer.
• Your bite may also be assessed if necessary to look out for bruxism (teeth grinding), over/under bite, and irregular tooth wear.
• Dental X-rays will be performed, if required, for all returning patients having a routine check-up if the dentist needs to see what’s happening inside the teeth and gums too.
• If you are a New Patient, your first routine check-up will last a little longer and will involve the dentist asking some routine questions about your general and oral health so they can get a full scope of you as a new patient. They will then perform the same checks as they do to returning patients, as well as taking some X-rays of your teeth.

After your check-up, the dentist will go through what they have found if anything and discuss the next steps with you. This will range from person to person depending on their oral health but might be a recommendation to see the hygienist for a clean / scale and polish, an additional appointment for a filling or root canal, a consultation with an oral surgeon for a tooth removal or implant, advice to seek medical guidance about oral cancer, or a simple ‘see you in 6 months’ if all is well.
All our dentists are highly skilled and trained to detect and diagnose even the smallest of oral issues, one’s that we would probably miss ourselves, which they’ll plan to rectify as soon as possible.
We wholly believe that prevention is better than the cure, so if you haven’t had a dental check-up in a while, pop in or give us a call to book an appointment with one of our oral specialists, and you can rest easy knowing your teeth are in good hands, and health.