You probably would have received a reminder for your next 6 monthly dental appointment and if you are considering putting it off (procrastinating) that visit, please don’t. I like to share 3 reasons why you should not.

1) Avoiding a Dental Emergency

In case you are not aware, during a routine 6 monthly Check-up the Dentist thoroughly checks your teeth and gums to detect any budding problems that are just starting. As you already know most serious and painful dental conditions start that way. An initial tooth decay (caries) starts as a small cavity that is mostly painless and often visually undetectable by the normal untrained eye. Likewise gum disease too is painless initially until the tooth starts to get loose and then, its too late.

The important point to note is if we do not catch it at a preliminary stage, the pain or damage to the tooth structure and gums will be so painful it will now be a Dental Emergency. What’s so wrong with a Dental Emergency? After all a quick online search or a call to the friendly pharmacist, we can get some strong painkillers to tide the situation and the Dental Emergency is dealt with! Sadly, that is a wrong assumption.

That’e exactly what happened to a 22 year old student who desperately wanted us to cut the Que and see him early in the morning. The pain was unbearable and the swelling on his face was clear this was a Dental Emergency, re-visiting him. Unknown to us, he had a bad episode of pain but self -treated himself with painkillers (analgesics) and the pain subsided. That was 6 days ago. He was on painkillers and seemed to think he had the situation under control. Unknown to him the infection was spreading and when he presented himself to the clinic, the strong painkillers were no longer working!

When you are in a Dental Emergency situation, you are very much at a disadvantage. You just made yourself a victim and the mercy of a series of circumstances. First and foremost you may or may not get a dentist to attend to you, and if you do get one, a dentist of your choice. While all Dentist are qualified to treat you, you do want an experienced dentist who knows how to deal with your situation. Or the best option is your regular friendly dentist who has your records. Chances are if he/she is any good, they will not be available! Good dentists are invariably more busy treating patients and unavailable. That’s just common sense.

Secondly, you are inconveniencing the dental team and other patients who were responsible enough to prioritize their time and dental health and you will look so silly and uncool. Trust me, the days of feeling pity for the pain victim are long gone. The protocol in most Dental Clinics is to ask and seek permission of the other patients on the Que. And most people ( the dental team included) do not like it!

Third point of contention is when you finally get to see the dentist, he/she will be rushing for time and nobody wants their dentist to be in a ‘rushing mood’. The Dentist and his team are people too! And besides when they finally attend to you, it will be with mindset of the quickest way to relieve the pain and a temporary stop-gap measure to buy time for a proper scheduled dental appointment for your situation.

2) Saving the Tooth and Integrity of Tooth and Gums.

Prevention is better than Cure. That old adage is very true. And what is not common knowledge is that delayed treatment or a bigger and deeper cavities compromise the long term viability of the tooth leading to eventual loss by extraction. Most adults have fillings in their mouth that last years and sometimes decades! Those fillings were done at an early stage of decay. Yet there are other fillings that keep giving problems and eventually end up as a crown or root canal treatment and this causes the life span of the tooth to be shortened.

All serious dental problems start with the tiniest cavity that only the dentist can see. Done early at this stage, the tooth is not compromised and the drilling is painless. The problem is settled and all is well. Here’s another adage that sums it up - ‘Nip it in the bud’.

3) Cost Savings

In any field of service, emergency services cost more than planned maintenance and ‘elective’ service . Dental Services are no different. Your dentist will probably charge you more for dealing with a dental emergency then a planned dental procedure. The reasons are obvious because the nature of treatment will be more expensive and there is a premium price for services charged on an unplanned visit. Once again you would have made a victim of yourself by putting yourself in that situation and now pay the higher price and have additional cost. Besides the extra cost, your treatment options are limited to either extraction or a very expensive course of Root Canal Treatment. Both invariably lead to expensive solutions.

You can do the maths. An average small filling on routine check-up visit would cost about RM 200.00. And no further treatment needed for years! An ignored cavity and spread of caries infection to the tooth pulp will lead to very painful condition and the need for Root Canal Treatment by a specialist - Cost RM 2000. And after completion of Root Canal Treatment (RCT) you will need to do a Porcelain Crown - Cost RM 2500. Total Cost- RM 4500. So even if the pain in the tooth does not get to you, the pain in paying RM 4,500 vs RM 200 just makes sense to not procrastinate on that routine Dental Check-up.

So be responsible. Be ‘cool’ and do the right thing for you own peace of mind, click that return button and schedule a dental appointment please. Your Dentist will really appreciate it.