If You Love Someone, Take Them to The Dentist!
By Dr. Shilpa Kapoor, DDS, MS, BDS
Nothing says “I love you” better than scheduling a dental visit for you and your family. These days, dental care involves much more than just cleanings and cavities. In fact, seeing your dentist for routine exams is as important for your overall health as seeing your primary care provider.
While COVID affected dental visits initially, most dentists are now seeing patients in person as well as virtually. This is because many physical conditions are detected through a simple oral exam. These can include oral cancers, occupation-related oral issues, substance abuse, mental health issues such as bulimia and anorexia, and domestic violence, to name a few. Oral issues can also occur due to tongue piercings and wearing mouth jewelry.
Your dentist will typically ask you to raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth (palate) during each visit, so that they can detect common tongue cancers early without any delay. Knowing that you engage in smoking or in any form of chewing tobacco, betel nuts, or betel leaf is also important information. Even viruses can cause mouth cancer. If you are experiencing any unusual oral symptoms, such as swelling in the mouth, you should check with a dentist to rule out a significant problem.
Sometimes, seeing a dentist can even eliminate the need for unnecessary medications. For example, one of my patients was taking multiple prescriptions due to sinus pain that he was experiencing, and that he assumed were migraines. After two years of what he thought were migraines, he came to see me. An exam revealed that all of the pain he had been experiencing had been the result of an infected tooth. Following treatment, within one week, he was medication-free.
With regard to mental health issues, dentists are able to diagnose anxiety upon seeing signs of teeth grinding. They can often detect domestic violence, since 75 percent of injuries occur in the head, mouth, and neck region. Other observations include hair loss (from pulling), black eyes, ear bruises, or head lacerations. Dentists can also detect if a patient is using methamphetamines, which often results in a type of tooth decay called “meth mouth.”
Finally, your dentist is an importance source of education. When teenagers put tongue rings in their mouth thinking it looks great, I ask them, “How do you think you will look when your lower teeth are gone due to the constant force of the tongue ring against your teeth that can result in bone loss, over time?” Dentists also counsel parents on the importance of not sharing food on the same utensils from which others are eating. This is because children have a pristine palate, and you may be unknowingly transferring bacteria from your mouth to theirs. I tell parents, “You are not showing love to your child by sharing ice-cream off the same spoon. You are showing your children love by taking them to the dentist.”
Dr. Shilpa Kapoor, DDS, MS, BDS, is Lead Clinical Dentist/Interim Dental Director for the Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc.
