Doctors advise bi-annual check-up to prevent progressive damage to teeth

Doctors urged people to undergo bi-annual dental check-ups and take children for dental examination at the age of five to six years when both their milk and permanent teeth are present

At a webinar on the importance of early dental care, dentists of Naruvi Hospitals, Vellore, urged people to undergo bi-annual dental check-ups and take children for dental examination at the age of five to six years when both their milk and permanent teeth are present.

They stressed that early care and detection of caries and timely intervention can help protect the teeth from progressive damage. The doctors were speaking at the webinar on “The Importance of Early Care of Dental Care” held as a part of The Hindu’s Wellness series presented by Naruvi Hospitals.

Surya Prakash Sharma, head of Dental Medicine and senior consultant, Prosthodontics and Oral Implantology, said: “Decays do not happen overnight. The tooth gives us multiple chances to save it but due to our negligence and the fear of going to a dentist causes gross decay.”

With dental caries being one of the most common and widespread dental problems today, they advised people to minimise salt, sugar and acidic content in their food intake, learn the proper brushing technique and change toothbrushes every two months.

G.V. Sarvapalli, consultant, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics, said children require regular examination of their teeth as they are prone to developing caries.

Juhi Anand, consultant, Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, explained the procedure of root canal treatment and why saving a tooth was the better option than extraction.