The health of your mouth is closely connected to your overall well-being, and when it comes to maintaining a healthy mouth, prevention is key. That’s why Dr. Erika Whitehouse and Dr. Meghan Kilkelly cannot recommend enough that you attend regular preventive dental appointments each year. By stopping oral health problems in their tracks early on, we can help you and your family enjoy bright, healthy smiles for years to come. To schedule your next checkup, call our friendly team today for preventive dentistry in Austin, TX!
In addition to brushing and flossing every day, there’s one other extremely important item that you and your family should do to ensure good oral health: Visit your dentist on a regular basis for professional exams & cleanings. At each check-up, we perform a thorough exam of the entire mouth, bite, jaw, and screen for oral cancer. This includes getting periodic diagnostic X-rays that help us catch small changes in the mouth early before they can be detected by the naked eye.
Fluoride can be found in most over-the-counter toothpaste, and some mouth rinses. However, levels vary greatly, and depending on each individual patient’s needs, additional fluoride may be indicated, based on diet, habit, and home care. We may recommend a Fluoride Varnish at your check-up visits to help keep your teeth strong, and prevent the attack of tooth decay. Sealants can be a method used to prevent tooth decay from forming in the pits of the grooves of baby teeth.
At Derby Dental, we want to do our part to stop this preventable killer by screening all of our patients at every visit. In addition to clinical chairside head and neck exams by the doctor and hygienist team, at Derby Dental we offer an enhanced immunofluorescence technology, called OralID, which can help detect cancerous changes in their early stages.
To keep your pearly whites healthy between regular cleanings, you should have the right oral hygiene products at your disposal. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices on the oral care aisle at your local pharmacy, why not ask our dentists for personalized recommendations? Based on our expert knowledge of your oral health, we can suggest toothpastes and mouthwashes that are best suited for your unique smile, such as Prevident, MI Paste, and Perioscience Rinse/Gel.
Many people chronically wake up with sore teeth or jaw pain without knowing why. During your routine exam, we can determine whether you suffer from bruxism, which causes a person to unconsciously grind their teeth and clench their jaw while sleeping. Left untreated, this condition can place severe stress on your jaw joints and wear down your tooth enamel. Using our digital impression system, we can create a custom nightguard that keeps your teeth and jaw comfortable during slumber.
It’s important to establish healthy dental habits at an early age, and our Derby Dental team would love to help with that! We recommend that your little one first start visiting our dental office for routine checkups once their first tooth comes in or by their first birthday. That way, we can make sure their smile is developing properly. If we detect any concerns, we can refer your child to the appropriate specialist in the area to give them the highest quality of care.