A dentist is a professional that offers dental care in order to help you maintain good oral health. If you're not sure why you need to seek dental care, here are three important reasons to do so.

1. You Have Symptoms of Dental Problems

Are you experiencing tooth pain? Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth? Even if it's not yet time for your routine dental exam, you should seek dental care if you have symptoms of a dental problem. Oftentimes, the sooner you see a dentist for a dental problem, the easier it is to treat.

Besides being easier to treat, it can be less expensive if you see a dentist right away. By seeing a dentist sooner rather than later, you might be able to avoid having an expensive dental procedure, such as a root canal or tooth extraction. You should also seek dental care if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Chronic bad breath
• Sudden tooth sensitivity
• Jaw pain when biting or chewing
• Loose teeth

All of these symptoms could indicate a serious dental problem, such as tooth decay, gum disease, infected tooth, or other oral health issue.

2. You Want to Improve Your Overall Health

Seeking dental care on a regular basis not only helps you keep your teeth healthy, it also helps you improve your overall health. This is due to the fact that poor oral health can lead to many health problems, such as the following:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Respiratory infections
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease
• Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you are expecting, you should also be aware that poor oral health has the potential to cause pregnancy complications.

3. It's Been a Long Time Since You've Seen a Dentist

Many people avoid going to the dentist. Some people have a genuine fear of receiving any kind of dental care. Maybe they had a traumatic experience with a dentist when they were a child. Or, maybe they fear they will need to have a painful dental procedure done. Others might be embarrassed about their teeth and are afraid the dentist is going to lecture them about their lack of oral hygiene habits.

One more reason people don't go to the dentist is they don't have any dental insurance and they don't think they can afford to go. What these people don't realize is that if they take good care of their teeth, a routine dental exam won't cost a lot of money. If any of these excuses have kept you from seeking dental care, it's time to schedule that appointment.