It is often said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. This mighty maxim is the backbone for health, period. Every single minute you invest in dental health pays a dividend. You just can’t overdo prevention. The costs of dental treatment, like cost of living, increases over time. Therefore, keeping healthy on a daily basis not only hedges against disease in the future, but keeps the cost of future dental expenses at bay. Prevention can be enhanced in following all the home care instructions that are reinforced in your continuing care (check-up) appointments, and in making sure you keep the continuing care appointments. Choosing to miss a check-up appointment because nothing hurts and/or you want to save the cost of the appointment, may create a situation in which the cost of having more conservative treatment (and less costly) is not available to you down the road. Too often we think that because we are not having any discomfort, there isn’t anything wrong. This is not only untrue, but dangerous thinking. At the point of discomfort, the damage has progressed far enough that treatment needed to fix the problem is now more invasive and complicated, the costs are greater, and the favorable long term prognosis is diminished. So, brush, floss, keep your check-up appointments, wear your protective guard (if one has been prescribed for you), brush and floss and rinse some more, and if you have even the slightest discomfort, make an appointment to see me!!
Ostriches have difficult digestion without teeth. Putting your head in the sand and denying that dental disease is real, doesn’t serve you at all. Not only does postponing dental treatment that has been prescribed for you decrease your ability to treat disease conservatively , but also increases the likelihood that the expenses involved with fixing the problem will be greater. We respect our patients’ right to choose according to their specific needs, but cannot emphasize the importance of timely follow-up treatment.
Maintain your regimen of total body health. Poor diet, increased stress, diminished sleep and exercise, all diminish the immune response and therefore, increase our susceptibility to oral disease, and vascular disease as well. Therefore, if you’ve had to adjust your expenses to cope with decreased purchasing power, please take care of YOU-exercise at home, meditate/pray/breathe more frequently, buy whole foods instead of prepared ones, and maintain your levels of rest. The mouth and the body have a codependent relationship and so taking care of YOU will pay off in terms of your oral health.
There are times in life when the calamity of circumstances gives us the opportunity to look beyond our own circumstances and address the needs of others. As the uncertainty of financial security looms large, it seems that everyone is affected, and is concerned about their futures. In the spirit of being of service to others, one of the things I thought I could do to help my patients and their loved ones, is to give some counsel about keeping your dental expenses down for the length of the economic downturn. I offer this advice purely in the spirit of helping you, help yourself. Although some of this is good common sense, I know from personal experience that sometimes our common sense fades in the face of stress. I hope this will give you new insights to help you improve your health and save you money in the long run.