Imagine for a moment what life might be like if you didn’t have any teeth at all or just a few teeth.

The first thing you’d miss is being able to laugh without worrying about showing your teeth, next you’d discover that you have a weird whistling lisp and your speech sounds horrible. To top it all off your face shape would change completely as your cheeks slump inwards and your lips get slack without those lovely teeth you used to have to give you a pretty profile. That’s just for starters; ever thought what it might be like not being able to eat all your favourite foods and how without teeth you can’t chew properly and what that might mean the next time you’re visiting a restroom?

Life without teeth is pretty grim when you get down to it. So, what has this to do with seeing a dentist regularly?

Many of the things that can go wrong with your teeth, that might mean you need to have expensive dental work or lose teeth altogether, are difficult to detect just looking in the mirror while you’re brushing your teeth each day.

Somethings that can go wrong are even difficult for a dentist (who is trained and an expert in teeth) to diagnose without seeing you regularly.

A List of a Few Reasons Why Your Dentist Wants to See You Regularly

1. To check that you are flossing and brushing your teeth properly.

Most things that can go wrong with your teeth are avoidable if you do these two simple things correctly as often as recommended by your dentist for you.

2. To keep track of suspicious-looking conditions.

The condition may be nothing or something very nasty if left untreated, either way, your dentist wants you to know early if there is a problem so you have lots of treatment options to choose from.

3. To ensure hormonal changes that can weaken your teeth are being monitored and tracked.

Changes in the health of your mouth due to hormonal issues can be very fast, so your dentist wants to be on top of your situation before anything terrible happens and you start losing teeth.

4. To monitor the damage you’re doing by grinding your teeth due to stress and anxiety.

Stressful lifestyles do lots of damage to your teeth; so your dentist wants to check that the damage you’re doing is managed and minimised.

5. To keep an eye on older dental work and monitor it for signs of failure.

At some point some of the dental work you’ve had done in the past may need to be restored or replaced; your dentist wants you to have lots of early warning if that’s going to happen to you.

6. To look for unexpected signs of damage to your teeth.

Taking up a new activity which increases your consumption of sugary sports drinks or recovery gels, or other types of lifestyle changes, can create unexpected dental problems that your dentist would want you to know about and have fixed quickly to minimise the extent of the damage.

7. To give you confidence that everything is alright with your teeth.

Anyone with teeth sensitivity or sore gums who knows that these conditions can mask the discomfort from other more serious problems understands how comforting it is to have your dentist tell you that everything is still looking good.