Why Your Abbotsford Dentist Is Crucial to Your Overall Health

Posted by Patrick Lawlor on October 19th, 2018

These days as more and more families relocate to new areas in search of better jobs and more enjoyable lifestyles, it’s rare to find a ‘multi-generational’ family dentist or doctor.

Nevertheless, it is important to develop a good, trusting relationship with the medical professionals that you rely on to help you maintain your health.  This is essential to ensuring that not only your dental health is maintained, but also your overall physical health. Although it may not be obvious, it’s true – what happens in your mouth will impact what happens in the rest of your body.

Some of the health problems that have been tied to dental health are heart conditions, diabetes, low weight and premature births as well as many respiratory issues. This has been proven by recent studies.

What makes this a very real concern, and often goes undetected is that many oral infections can be low grade enough to not cause major pain or serious discomfort and yet be powerful enough that they can severely compromise your immune system, weakening it and making it vulnerable to other infections.  This often happens in instances where a crown is compromised and an infection begins below the surface, or when gingivitis or gum disease begins to set in. Obviously, when your immune system is compromised or weakened, you will find it harder to fight off infections.  Viruses and bacteria to which you might normally be immune, can take hold and cause all kinds of illnesses that you’d never normally associate with your dental health – for instance, respiratory problems.

If you are planning on going into hospital any time soon, you should make sure that your oral health is at the best possible level.  If you have any dental health issues and you undergo treatment in a hospital, particularly surgery, the combined impact can make you extremely vulnerable and put you at serious risk of picking up other infections from germs you will encounter in the hospital environment.

What should you do if you don’t have a family dentist?

When you find yourself in the position of having to find a new dentist, it’s best to try to find the right one for you before you’re faced with a dental emergency.

The dentist you find in an emergency may not be the best choice for your family.  As not all dental clinics offer an emergency dentist, your choices will be severely limited to who is available at the time that the emergency happens. And, for the most part, emergencies tend to happen out of regular working hours.

The Best Way to Find A Dentist in Your Area:

•          Ask friends and relatives who they visit and how they like them.  These personal recommendations can give you valuable insights into who may or may not be a good fit for your family.
•          Search the internet for Abbotsford dentist reviews – there are plenty of review sites where people post their opinions about local businesses, including the medical professionals such as dentists, doctors, chiropractors and naturopaths.
•          Look in the phone book or directories and make a short list of the local dentists. Then call each of them and find out if they will allow you to come in and visit the practice to meet the staff and the dentist before making an appointment.  If they have a problem with this, then they are likely not going to be a great choice.
•          Make a list of what you need from your dentist.  Are you going to need care for your entire family? Does your family include small children or elderly parents?  Does anyone have health concerns or dental problems? Are you primarily concerned with cosmetic dentistry or are you looking for a specialist such as an orthodontist?
•          If you do have children, which dental clinics cater to children and families of various ages.
•          If you are busy, which dental offices have more than one dentist on staff so that your entire family can make simultaneous appointments so that you’re not spending hour after hour waiting?
•          If you find it difficult to take time off work for dental visits, which dentists offer extended hours?
•          When you interview the dental clinic, ask them about their dental equipment – how recent is it? How often is it serviced? Do the technicians that operate it get training on a regular basis?  This is particularly of concern when it comes to dental X-rays.  Modern dental X-rays are much safer than the old-style dental X-rays or even the traditional X-rays you encounter for other parts of the body.
•          How up to date are their practices?  Do they have equipment to digitally design crowns to fit your tooth perfectly or is an old-style mold sent out to a lab?
•          Do they still offer old style mercury-based fillings? Or charge more for the white porcelain fillings?
•          Do they offer pain free dentistry or sedation dentistry?
•          What is their attitude towards staying up to date with the latest dental practices and technology? Are they satisfied to stay with old style practices used in past generations or are they constantly upgrading their education and their equipment?
•          Are they friendly and caring? or do you feel as if you are simply another fee walking in through the door?
•          Do they explain their recommendations in full?
•          Do they answer all your questions fully and patiently or do they get impatient and assume you wouldn’t understand if they gave you more detail about a condition or a procedure?
•          Are they providing their patients with education on dental health and oral hygiene?

All of these factors will play a role in determining who will be best for you and your family.  Don’t’ be shy about asking all the questions you want and insisting on the answers before you make a commitment to give them your business.

After all, this is not just a business transaction. You’re putting your dental health in their care and you want to find an Abbotsford dentist that you can stick with long term with staff you feel that you can trust and who have your best interests at heart.