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What Benefits Do You Get Out of Making Dental Goals for Yourself? |
Posted on 12/21/2020 by office |
| Your dental health is an incredibly important component of your overall health and well-being. We like to work with our patients to set personal, realistic dental goals for themselves to help them stay on track with their dental health. Setting a few specific goals for your dental health keeps you accountable, makes it more likely that you will achieve results, and prevents you from getting overwhelmed with your dental health routine and giving up. Accountability Setting goals for yourself is an excellent way to hold yourself accountable. But in order to succeed, your goals should be personal, specific, and realistic. For instance, “get perfect teeth” is not a specific or realistic goal for anyone. But you can break that larger goal down into smaller, more specific goals. Maybe you are unhappy with the color of your teeth, and want to work towards a whiter, brighter smile. Your first goal could be something as simple as “ask about whitening treatments at next dental checkup.” Checking that first small goal off your list serves as visual proof that you are actively working towards your dental goals and will encourage you to keep going. Results It is no secret that most people give up on their New Year's resolutions by the beginning of February, or even sooner. This again comes back to the issue of setting goals that are too big or vague. You are much more likely to achieve results if you set specific, smaller goals that work up to a larger end goal. You cannot expect to be able to run an entire marathon if you have only ever jogged a few miles before; instead, you follow a training plan that gradually increases your weekly mileage over the course of several months until you are ready to meet your end goal of running the marathon. Your dental health goals should be no different. Perhaps you want to quit smoking to decrease your chances of developing oral cancer, gum disease, or other dental issues. A goal of “quit smoking” might seem overwhelming or even impossible. But a goal of “smoke five fewer cigarettes a week” is much more realistic and will lead to measurable results. Talk to us about setting dental goals for yourself at your next appointment.... Read more... |
Kevin Kay DDS Comprehensive Family DentistryDr. Kevin Kay (425) 738-84764444 NE Sunset Blvd, Suite 3 Renton, WA 98059-4018 |
