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Semiahmoo Dental Centre

Why You Should Start 2025 With a Dental Checkup

Why You Should Start 2025 With a Dental Checkup

Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is a little self care. Even small things can add up and make a big difference in long-term health and well-being. And a great time to put some new habits in place is at the start of the new year. You don’t have to drastically change your life; however, making some small adjustments to develop healthy, sustainable habits will pay off in the long run.

One thing that people don’t think much about is how connected our overall health is. When one thing is out of tune, it can affect the operation elsewhere in the body. And a lot of big picture physical health starts with oral health. Good oral health begins with a dental checkup.

We’ve come up with a list of things you can do to improve and maintain your oral health throughout 2022. Small steps that can lead to long-lasting overall health.

#1 Start 2022 with a Dental Checkup

One of the best things you can do for your health, now and in the long-term, is get into a regular dental check up schedule. While it’s recommended to visit the dentist twice (or more) each year, your dentist will advise on the schedule that’s right for you.

There are plenty of reasons why it’s important to visit your dentist for a check up. They will:

#2 Make Small Changes to your Diet

What you eat and drink drastically affects your teeth, even if you are good at brushing and flossing. If you have a sweet tooth for sugary foods and drinks, smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and coffee, or simply don’t get enough water each day, your mouth and teeth are the first to be affected.

For example, when you do drink an adequate amount of water daily, your salivary glands are activated, helping you break down food, which helps your body absorb more nutrients, which helps your organs and systems work more efficiently, which keeps you resistant to disease and illness. Water also keeps your digestion system moving nicely. And lastly, the saliva washes your teeth with calcium, fluoride, and phosphate.

Increasing the amount of water, limiting alcohol and sugar intake, reducing (or quitting) smoking all create a positive chain reaction throughout your body. The new year is the perfect time to revisit habits. Even more so, it’s the time to make small changes that lead to big results.

#3 Bring in Mindfulness

You’ve probably heard this buzzword before, and maybe you’re wondering how it applies to your oral health. Well, mindfulness helps bring you into the present moment; allowing you to engage in your behaviours and decisions with more clarity. The result is that a person will pay more attention to the little things that previously were habits done with little care.

An example of how this applies to oral health is perhaps you didn’t notice that you grind your teeth or clench your jaw when you’re stressed. Maybe you didn’t realize that you crave sugar or a drink when things feel overwhelming. Or maybe you didn’t see that you skipped out on tooth brushing on evenings that you were exhausted.

Mindfulness is a habit that builds over time; you might see how it can lead to little improvements, especially when it comes to oral health.

Making a visit to your dentist one of your first priorities of 2022 will help you get in the groove of good dental health. Once you go once, it gets easier to keep up with the routine. Put the next appointment in your calendar, create some accountability, and take your oral health – and overall health – into your own hands. If you are in South Surrey or White Rock and are looking for a dentist, we would love to meet you — reach out to schedule an appointment today!