Examinations

Dental Examination

At Bedford Dental Surgery we  recommend that you have a check up every six months so that any early decay can be spotted before it gets the chance to cause any pain or  damage. The examination also makes sure that your gums are nice and healthy as in later years most teeth are lost to gum disease. An important part of the examination is oral health screening checking for any signs of oral cancer or other pathology.

The importance of the dental exam?

Once good oral health has been attained it is important to maintain this and so we reccomend six-monthly check-up visits.

Firstly the dentist checks the teeth for cavities and broken fillings or crowns.X-rays are often necessary at this stage to aid in the diagnosis. Dental decay may appear as a hole or sometimes as a dark shadow underneath the surface of the enamel. If there is a hole in a tooth the dentist may place a temporary filling to stop food accumulating in it.

The dentist will then check the gums and your general oral hygiene to ensure there are no problems there. They may use a special probe to test the depth of the pockets around your teeth in order to detect gum disease early.

Finally the soft tissues are checked for ulcerations or other lesions. The dentist may also check the jaws and associated muscles.

But I wear dentures, do I still need an exam?

It is important to check the condition of the hard and soft tissue of the mouth. The dentist checks that this is healthy and that there are no signs of oral cancer or any other pathology.