What is the purpose of oral health assessment?

Regular oral health evaluations give the dentist the opportunity to stop any signs of gum disease, detect oral cancer, and offer advice on how to maintain and improve dental health. Examining your smile routinely can identify problems early This video shows a health professional and a parent positioning a child for an oral health exam by placing him from knee to knee. Primary care professionals or other properly trained professionals, as determined by laws or regulations of state practice, may perform an oral health exam of the lips, tongue, teeth, gums, the inside of the cheeks and the palate to identify oral diseases, especially tooth decay or other oral diseases conditions (for example, delayed dental eruption or premature tooth loss, abscesses or trauma) and to provide guidance for treatment.