One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of your health is dental health. In an ideal world, everyone would brush and floss their teeth after every meal, and then use mouthwash to rinse out their mouth; these few simple things will help to prevent a lot of the dental damage that can be caused by the food we eat, such as cavities and tooth decay, as well as bad breath, but the actual food itself that you eat also plays a big part in your dental health. Foods that are high in sugar or processed sweeteners such as corn syrup will cause many dental problems such as cavities if you do not brush properly after eating them. Even if you eat foods that are low in sugar, brush your teeth after every meal, floss several times a day, and use mouthwash, however, there are still certain aspects of your dental health that can only be taken care of by a dentist. Even the best toothbrushes and tooth pastes do not compare to the tools that a dentist has at his disposal. It is recommended that every person visit their dentist twice a year, ideally every six months, for a cleaning and general check up. Just a couple of visits each year to the dentist for a professional cleaning will go a long way toward helping you to maintain good dental health, but perhaps the most important reason to visit your dentist on a regular basis is for a check up, where the dentist will examine the condition of your teeth and your mouth as a whole in order to spot any problems. By visiting the dentist every six months, you can hopefully catch any problems, such as cavities, before they develop into a major problem. Many times, your dentist will find a cavity before it ever even causes you any pain to alert you to the presence of a problem, and the dentist will be able to clean out the cavity and fill it to prevent further decay. Left untreated, such conditions can go on to be extremely painful, and may ultimately require the tooth to be extracted entirely, or a root canal.

Many people hate going to see their dentist, some to the extent that it causes them so much anxiety that they need medication to deal with the stress. There are many offices that cater to people who experience such a level of stress at the thought of visiting the dentist, where the office is set up in such a way that is designed to put people at ease, and anxiety medication is provided to the patients before any dental procedures take place. Even if you do not experience such crippling anxiety at the thought of visiting the dentist, you are probably like most of the rest of the people in America, and find visiting the dentist to be at least somewhat unpleasant, and understandably so. It is certainly unpleasant to have a person digging around in your mouth with all sorts of sharp tools for several minutes, but if you want to avoid much more unpleasant situations in the future, then it is worth it to subject yourself to the minor discomfort of regular dental check ups and cleanings. As uncomfortable as it may be to have your teeth cleaned by a dental assistant or examined by a dentist, it is much more uncomfortable to suffer tooth pain due to a cavity, or to have to go to the dentist for a root canal or to have a tooth pulled because it is decayed so badly.