It is always a difficult task convincing Nigerians to go for routine check-ups, not to even talk of routine dental check-ups.
They will always tell you that even the bible said that ,"Of what business has a healthy man with the doctors In the hospital?"
And always putting our poor economic situation in this part of the world into consideration, it's even more difficult as someone will prefer to use the money he or she will spend in the hospital for restocking foodstuffs, atleast to be eating, lol.
But regardless of the excuses we give, there are many benefits you can get from routine medical and dental check-ups and one of them is Early detection of illnesses.
In medicine as a whole for any illness at all, Early presentation to the hospital is one of the strongest prognostic factor for cure.
This is because when you present early to the hospital, you are giving your doctors the leeway of wide variety of options and alternatives to work with unlike when things are already bad leaving them with very little and narrowed treatment options.
Today, I decided to practice what I preach and I went for a routine dental check-up.
Our teeth are one area of our health where we often neglect , myself included.
This is actually my first dental check-up, even though I've gone for numerous medical check-ups.
I didn't have any complaints , no pain, nothing unusual. I do the basic dental care I can, I'm a doctor, after all. But then that specialist care is also very essential and that is why I went to them today.
Dental chair
They examined me on their Dental Chair and to my greatest surprise, I have a hole in one of my molars.
I was seeing it on the monitor too so it's not as if I didn't appreciate the hole. The hole was just there—quiet, innocent, and harmless-looking. No pain. No discomfort. No sign. Nothing to suggest anything was wrong.
As the dentist explained to me the treatment modalities and how to prevent it from progressing into something more serious, I paid full attention and also found myself reflecting on my oral hygiene and trying to align all his advice to my daily routine activities.
Leaving the dental clinic, I was very grateful to myself for going and happy I presented early before it became a serious problem and prevent me from eating all the chickens in future.
In summary, many people fear discovering something is wrong, so they avoid the examination altogether. But avoiding the truth never protects you, it only gives the problem more time to grow.
Prevention and early presentation to the hospital really is better and cheaper than cure.
Here's A Reminder Today:
Brush your teeth twice daily
Floss regularly
Avoid refined sugary products and when you eat them, do rinse your mouth properly
And most importantly, go for routine check-ups before something you could have prevented becomes something you now have to treat
Images Are Mine Designed With Canva
Thanks for reading and have a nice day ahead đź‘Ť