Meet Sally Higgins, a 36-year-old banker who resides in Salt Lake City, Utah -- Sally's life was going perfectly until her tooth started to complicate things, as most people would do Sally decided that it was just an ephemeral toothache and she decided to show some restraint because according to her theory that pain was going to go away eventually.

Sadly enough, the pain didn't go away, it escalated into a larger problem and the pain could no longer be ignored, this is when Sally decided to visit her dentist as she could no longer perform her daily routines. An oral surgeon took care of her problem by extracting the molar which was given her problems. However, because of the time that she waited to get help from her dentist and because of her smoking habit things went from bad to worse, the very same day that the molar was extracted she was allowed to go home and rest, the dentist gave her some antibiotics to fight the infection that she had and reduced her swelling.

She took the antibiotics as prescribed a doctor but unfortunately did not work, the pain intensified and the swelling just got worse. The same oral surgeon that had treated her decided to remove another tooth and drain some of the pus that was building up because of the bacterial infection; after all that was done she was transferred to a bigger hospital because the swelling had reached a point where she could no longer open her mouth and was having trouble breathing. Luckily for her the next intervention was successful and she was quickly out of danger.

While not many tooth infections actually escalate the level that Sally had to go through it is important that everyone knows that the same type of bacteria than Sally had in her mouth is also found in yours and if you give it a chance by not flossing and brushing your teeth regularly they will without a doubt gain ground.

By paying a visit to the dentist twice a year you are able to prevent dangerous complications such as the one that Sally had to suffer through and at the same time the dentist is able to detect diseases that you might not be even aware that you have. A visit to the dentist can help you prevent pneumonia, diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, etc. -- as you see, a visit to the dentist to do a lot more than save your smile, it can save your life.