In a bad economic situation, of which we are all now experiencing, people all over are not only cutting back on food and travel, but they are neglecting health issues, particularly in the area of dental health. We must however consider that by neglecting the dentist visit now, what will this mean in the long run for our dental health? It’s really no big secret that when you neglect your teeth to save money, you will spend markedly more later down the road just repairing the damage that has happened through neglect.

A good example would be the person who attends a dentist for a filling. A simple filling may cost a few hundred dollars to complete. If that same person looks at their shrinking budget and decides to avoid getting the filling, a few months or maybe a year down the road that person will then require an extensive root canal procedure, which involves not only the root canal treatment, but also a crown, and possible a post. In the end one neglected filling can end up costing thousands, as opposed to a few hundred had it been dealt with immediately.

So the question becomes this: What can we do now – at home – in these penny pinching times, to maintain a healthy mouth? Here’s a few ways that we’ve all heard time and time again:

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