"Nothing Hurts, So I Must Be All Right." - WRONG!

It seems to make sense that when something is wrong with your body, it would hurt. Many times it does.

What does not always make sense, but often is true, is that things may "feel fine", yet there is something seriously wrong. Just think of the person that has a heart attack seemingly out of the blue. It was not just out of the blue. That person's cardiovascular condition was deteriorating for years prior to the attack, but the person never had any pain, and thought they were fine.

When it comes to your mouth, please know:

Not all cavities will cause pain or sensitivity. Some do, others don't. 

Just because you have never had a cavity in your life does not mean you do not have one now, and/or never will in the future. 

Even stranger, not all abscessed, or "infected", teeth hurt. Reason is, the nerve of the tooth may already be dead. Not a pleasant thought.

Sometimes our bodies will send us a signal that something is wrong by setting our pain receptors in fireworks mode. Other times, our bodies are just on vacation, and no pain signal gets put into our brain's inboxes.

So, stick with your biannual dental checkups and cleanings, along with x-rays as recommended. Even though your pain signals may be "off", your dentist will have a chance to catch things before it is too late.

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Why Are Dental X-Rays Important?

Almost on a daily basis a patient makes the statement, "I do not need x-rays. I'm fine."

I secretly find the statement amusing because, even I, their dentist, cannot make the statement that they are fine, with any certainty, without the diagnostic aid of dental x-rays. Why? I do not have x-ray vision!

Here are just some things a dentist cannot see without the eyes of the dental x-ray:

• Tooth decay ("cavities") on surfaces that are not visible to the naked eye. These surfaces include root areas and inbetween the teeth areas. That is more than half of your total tooth structure!
• The level of bone supporting the tooth roots. This is a measure of gum health.
• Impacted wisdom teeth and/or other impacted  teeth.
• Tooth infections or abscesses.
• Cysts or cancers.
• Integrity of existing dental work - fillings, crowns, posts, root canals.

So, as you can see, much of your oral health indicators are hidden from plain sight. Dental x-rays are the ONLY way to obtain this information.

Dental x- rays are a necessary part of your check-up oral evaluations. Please opt to have them taken at appropriate intervals.

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