When people think of long-term medical planning they almost inevitably start thinking about their relationship with their physician and what kind of family history they have that may indicate what’s coming down the road. It isn’t often that they consider that a long-term plan for your dental health is just as important, with just as many factors to consider to ensure you have a long and healthy life with beautiful teeth.
Your Relationship With Your Dentist
There’s a growing pattern in modern medicine where the patients are engaging with their physicians to understand not just what medications and procedures the doctor is suggesting, but why they’re suggesting them. This form of communication was slower to catch on in the dental field but is becoming more common, a trend that dentists are working hard to encourage. A long-term dental plan ensures that you are engaged in the decision making processes and understand why your current oral hygiene habits have enduring effects on your overall oral health.
Creating a Long Term Plan With Your Dentist
As with any plan that has an extended duration there are multiple steps to preparing a long-term dentistry plan with your practitioner. Each of these steps plays an important role in establishing and maintaining your plan.
• Step 1 – Identification: Throughout this stage, you’ll work with your dentist to determine what kind of risks you may face based on your current health and your family history. Dental disease is a serious concern that can lead to the loss of bone and teeth, which can alter the state of your bite and ultimately complicate your future oral health.
• Step 2 – Prognosis: Once the risks have been established it’s time to figure out what this means for your long-term dental health.
• Step 3 – Treatment: This step involves treating any existing conditions and planning preventative treatments to help hold off any future issues.
• Step 4 – Monitoring: Throughout the rest of your life you’ll be seeing your dentist regularly to maintain your dental health and monitor its progression. It is during this stage that any emerging issues can be identified, initiating a reboot of the step system.
By following these steps with your dentist throughout your life you’ll be certain to get the jump on any problems that may develop and prevent them from causing long-term and irreversible damage. Every year more patients and dentists are adopting this process to help ensure that they live a long and healthy life with beautiful teeth.
Step 0 – Finding a Dentist To Work With
If you’re looking for a new dentist and live in the Kitchener, ON area, you should stop in and see Dr. Xiaofeng Wang at Forest Hill Family Dental. He and his team believe that working directly with their patients is the best way to form a long-term plan that will help prevent severe problems in the future. Just pick up the phone and make an appointment for a consultation and begin your road to a long life with healthy teeth.