Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What we can learn from the dentist



For decades, the dentist industry has done an amazing job of educating the public in the importance of mantence visits for the early detection of dental problems. Most people are aware that it is recommended that you should get your teeth checked and cleaned professionally every 6 months. Why? Because if there is any early sign of tooth decay, it will be caught at an early enough stage where a very minimal amount of care will be needed to correct the problem. It might only need a good cleaning, or possibly a small cavity being filled, versus more intensive remedies like crowns, root canals, tooth removal, or the need for partials or dentures.


That gets us into cost. The cost of a cleaning or a small filling for a cavity is very small compared to the extensive costs occured when the more invasive work is need. Not to mention the additional time and extra visits to the office that are often required for such procedures. As they say, time is money.


So what can we learn from the dentist? Chiropractic is very similar to dentistry in the area of early detection. If a spinal problem is observed in the early stages of injury, in most cases, it can be corrected in a short amount of time, with much less cost and with less time to experience pain and/or loss of function.


So if you are currently in pain, don't wait. Get in today and get a thorough spinal exam to see what your current condition is, so that the Doctor of Chiropractic can start correcting the problem before it gets worse. Not in pain? Get a spinal check up before you have pain to detect small developing problems before they cause limiting pain and restriction of mobility. Some patients enjoy longer times in between check ups after the chiropractor has been able to correct and help the patient stabilize their spine. For some this can be one to two months in between visits, for others with less severe conditions they can extend these in between check ups to 4-6 months. The key is early detection, so have a chiropractic check up regularly and ideally before pain errupts.