When it comes to visiting the dentist a lot of us would rather go, well, just about anywhere else. The drill, the pain, the awkward feeling of having someone’s hands in your mouth - it can all be unnerving to say the least.

That’s no excuse for poor oral hygiene, however, and that’s especially true if you’ve got a noticeable dental problem. Ignoring bleeding gums or a sore tooth won’t make it go away - in fact, ignoring such problems may only make them worse.

Dental injuries or illness can lead to other health problems, and some of these are very serious. In 2011, an Ohio man died from an untreated abscessed tooth, according to WLWT in Cincinnati, and the infection eventually spread to his brain, causing his death. You owe it to yourself to get your mouth checked out regularly and whenever you experience any of the six signs below.{relatedarticles}

Tooth Pain

This one seems obvious, but too many people don’t pay attention when their bite starts to bite back.