Active Maintenance Is The New Check-up

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Most of us don’t think twice about taking our cars for regular servicing and maintenance. We understand that the time and effort of booking a service is outweighed by the inconvenience and cost of having a breakdown.

It’s easy to overlook this approach in other areas of life, and unfortunately, many people (65% of Australians), make this mistake with their oral health. Much like a car breakdown, this can be expensive, time consuming, and also painful to fix.

Many dental diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and gum disease are not able to be felt or even noticed until they are very severe. This means that by the time people notice a problem it is often too late for a simple solution, meaning more drastic measures such as root canal or tooth extraction are necessary. At Medland Dental, we aim to make sure patients are covered anywhere, anytime. This means working a maintenance programme around your schedule, so you can easily make time to look after your teeth.

At Medland Dental, 60% of our patients take a proactive approach to their dental health and seek assessment with their dentist and hygienist every six months. There was a time when we used to call this appointment just a “check-up”…but we were wrong. It is your Active Maintenance Programme. An Active Maintenance Programme is designed to help people get regular preventive care in order to break the cycle of lurching from one dental emergency to the next.

At your Active Maintenance appointment, your dentist and hygienist work collaboratively to identify if there are any conditions affecting your teeth, gums or soft tissues (this includes your oral cancer screening) that you may not yet be able to feel – they look under the bonnet. They will inform you of your options and what you need to know about each option so you can decide what path you want to take and undertake treatment in a planned manner. Your Active Maintenance appointment is usually every six months, although it is occasionally more frequent for those with a lot of complex dental conditions or are undergoing major medical treatments like chemotherapy.

Although many people have reservations about the cost of regular visits to the dentist when there is no obvious problem, dental studies have indicated that regular maintenance visits can be way more cost effective than dealing with dental problems after they have become a complex and expensive emergency.

Active Maintenance allows problems to be identified early, meaning that conditions can be treated in a planned manner around your schedule and budget. This makes life far more predictable and less stressful for all involved.

If you are ready to start your Active Maintenance Programme, give us a call to book an appointment.