Apollo White Dental Care- Cost of delaying your dental check up

We are all lazy by default. We postpone anything that can be postponed. We think "why fix something that is not broken". We delay servicing of cars, as service costs a few thousand. We never go for complete health checkup, unless mandated, we don't worry about dental care unless some pain develops. What we don't realize is that these checkups- be it for your vehicle or your body, serve one main purpose- to prevent a major damage./expense at a later stage in case something is about to fail.

Recently I visited an Apollo White Dental care clinic in Nungambakkam. This post is about delaying your dental check-up. This post is based on my visit experience and some input from hospital staff. (Dr Shalini). I went little ahead of time- was asked to fill up registration form.- I asked if this registration is also valid at regular Apollo hospital, but it is not. This is something they can possibly improve- why register separately for different types of healthcare under Apollo brand?

Unlike your stomach or your head- which will be quick to release pain and hint that there's some trouble, tooth can survive for years without giving any hint that it is silently developing a problem. If not detected in time and corrected, the complications increase and so will cost of treatment.

Consider this:

1. Cost of a normal dental check up- Rs 200 to Rs 500
2. Cost of filling (clean decaying parts and cover with substitutes): Rs 1000-1500 (per teeth)
3. Cost of Extraction: Rs 4000 to Rs 5000 (per teeth)
4. Cost of Root canal treatment and crowning: Rs 10000 to Rs 30000 (per teeth, depending on crowning option chosen-ceramic, precious stones, gold etc)
5. Cost of treatment if the infection turns into mouth cancer- lakhs
6. Cost of sudden disruption in your plans (travel, meetings, work commitments etc) because one of the tooth started aching and you can't sleep, can't eat properly and can't travel till it is fixed: Priceless.

If you try to save a few hundred by avoiding a basic checkup, then what could have been fixed in Rs 1000 now might cost to 10 times more after an year or two. If a filling is done in time, it will stop further decay. Tooth decay and related problems can begin in your twenties itself and can cause major trouble in your thirties if not detected and attended to.

There are dental clinics in every street, but compared to them, Apollo Hospital's dental branch- Apollo White Dental Care has best of the equipment and staff. As I went for checkup, I could see my mouth live in the TV in-front, while being inspected. After check-up, all potentially problematic tooth are shown to me and Dr. Shalini explained in simple terms what is happening with that teeth and what is the risk of leaving it unattended. An X-ray of my mouth was taken in a separate room- within minutes and the results were also explained to me, along with possible treatment plan.

Few interesting stuff: In the process I also learnt a bit more about wisdom tooth. These 4 totally useless tooth exist only to eat up space and resources in your mouth. I came to know that most of the kids of present generation do not have wisdom tooth (natural adaption).

During the middle ages in Europe, barbers were assigned the task of extracting damaged teeth. Ancient Egyptians were reportedly using dead mouse to cure aching tooth. (Displays on the wall inside the checkup room of White Dental Spa)

Besides regular check-up and treatments, Apollo Dental care also caters to various cosmetic needs of oral care, such as Teeth bleaching/Whitening,  Tooth Jewel etc. Some of the treatments- such as gold plated crowning are not available anywhere else except Apollo.

The checkup process lasted under 30 minutes and I am glad I went for it. The findings were given to me on a CD. I would need some fillings and other treatments, which I will avail shortly.

Check Apollo White Dental care's website  https://www.apollowhitedental.com/ for details or to fix an appointment.

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