When it comes to caring for your smile, are you proactive?
Did you know that bacteria need only 48 hours to begin to infect your gums? Proactively removing plaque from your teeth is hands down the best way to prevent bacteria from accumulating in the first place.
It is recommended children schedule a dental appointment every 6 months, while adults schedule every 4, to maintain a healthy smile.
Comments by Dr. Herrmann:
It is not surprising that most people are not proactive in terms of oral hygiene. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that 73% of Americans would rather go grocery shopping then floss their teeth—and we all know how frustrating checkout lines can be!
From a traditional viewpoint, this is not surprising. Dental education has long rested on the shoulders of parents and educators. The occasional family dentistry practice is too small to award dentists the time to explain to each patient, in detail, why bacteria leads to cavities, gum disease, and other negative conditions. By and large, however, there are simply too many mouths and too little time for professionals to adequately educate each individual who visits their office.
Simple information about cleaning your teeth, avoiding excessive sweets, and scheduling a regular professional cleaning has, for the most part, been conveyed to us on a simplistic level by nonprofessionals. For example, few know that bacteria, when trapped between the teeth, can contact and infect the gums within only 48 hours. Even fewer are aware that several studies conducted at universities the world over have linked heart disease with the very same bacteria that causes gum disease.
When it comes to dental education, parents, educators, and time constrained professionals seem to leave it at brush twice a day, floss at night, and watch the candy intake. If you dig deeper, however, you find such prescriptions are extremely limited.
Holistic dentistry, on the other hand, takes an information rich approach to educate and empower people. Once patients are educated and empowered, they are able to take steps to proactively combat oral decay and gum disease before they become serious health issues.
I have been a Miami dentist for over twenty years. When I first started Assure a Smile in 1988, I had a simple goal in mind: create a dental service where patients and their smiles come first. Putting the patient first means a lot more than just checkups—it means ensuring each patient has a full understanding of why their teeth and gums are in a certain condition. When you take the time to educate people, you empower them. Empowered individuals are proactive individuals, and there is simply no substitute for consistent, thorough oral hygiene.
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