Dental Cleanings and Why They Are Important
Maintaining optimal oral health is essential for overall well-being, and regular dental cleanings play a pivotal role in this endeavor. At Beach Perio, Implants & Medspa, we are committed to providing comprehensive dental cleaning services that not only enhance your smile but also contribute to your general health.
What to Expect During a Dental Cleaning
Our professional dental cleanings are thorough and tailored to meet your individual needs. The process typically involves:
- Comprehensive Oral Examination: A dental hygienist will begin by examining your mouth for signs of gum disease, cavities, or other oral health issues.
- Plaque and Tartar Removal: Using specialized instruments, we meticulously remove plaque and tartar buildup that regular brushing and flossing can't eliminate.
- Teeth Polishing: After cleaning, your teeth will be polished to remove surface stains and smooth the enamel, making it harder for plaque to accumulate.
- Flossing: Professional flossing ensures that any remaining debris between your teeth is cleared away.
- Fluoride Treatment: To strengthen your teeth and help prevent cavities, a fluoride treatment may be applied.
Benefits of Regular Dental Cleanings
Engaging in routine dental cleanings offers numerous advantages:
- Prevention of Gum Disease: Regular cleanings help prevent gingivitis and periodontitis by removing harmful bacteria and plaque.
- Early Detection of Oral Health Issues: Regular visits allow for the early identification of problems such as cavities, broken fillings, and oral cancer.
- Fresher Breath: Removing plaque, tartar, and bacteria significantly reduces bad breath.
- Overall Health Benefits: Maintaining oral health can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, as studies have shown a connection between oral and overall health.
What is the difference between a regular cleaning and a deep cleaning?
What I tell patients is it depends on the measurements that you get. When we use our little instrument called the probe, it can determine how much inflammation you have. A number of one, two, and three would be regular. Those patients with no bleeding and normal health can go every six months for regular routine cleaning. Once your measurements are fours, fives, sixes, and greater, those are patients that need a deep cleaning and need to be seen on a regular basis every three months.
Why is a deep cleaning necessary?
When you use a toothbrush, you can get maybe one millimeter into your pink gum line called the gingiva. If you're only brushing the top portion, the bottom portion that you cannot reach, which may be fours, fives, and six millimeters deep, is like a volcano waiting to erupt. If you only clean the top, you're just waiting for that infection to start. We need to get in to do a deep cleaning so we can get below the pink gum line, get as much of the bacteria out as possible up to about four millimeters, and then this way we can decrease your bleeding, decrease the tissue swelling, and get you towards health.
How long can I go without a dental cleaning?
If you are a healthy patient with no deep pockets and no heavy calculus or tartar buildup, typically you can go once every six months for a cleaning. If you have measurements that are fours, fives, sixes, and greater, then you need to be seen every three months for a cleaning. If you go longer than that, that bacteria is building up. Every time you brush, floss, swallow, or eat, you're getting that bacteria into your bloodstream, which can put you at a very high risk for a heart attack, stroke, adult-onset diabetes, Parkinson's, and even some cancers.
What is your hygienist going to do at a teeth cleaning appointment?
Your hygienist is your dental health concierge. She is going to update and review any allergies you have that could affect what you're going to have done. She'll go over your medical history to ensure that you're staying up to date with your overall body health. She should be taking some measurements around each tooth in six points to make sure that your gums are staying healthy. Then she's going to clean at the pink gum line and slightly below the pink gum line. If there are areas you're having trouble with, she will demonstrate with a toothbrush how to get in there better, how to clean your teeth better, and certain products that you should be using. We'll also go through the difference between using stannous fluoride toothpaste versus sodium fluoride toothpaste.
How painful is a dental cleaning?
You can think of it this way: if you have a cut on your leg that is all red and infected and you itch it, it's going to hurt. If your gums are red and infected when we clean them, even the gentlest cleaning can sometimes be uncomfortable. The key is to communicate. Let your hygienist know where you're having discomfort. We have lots of things that you can do. You can put on gummy topical around the tissues to help numb it. We can squirt liquids into the tissues. For patients who are really sensitive, we can even get you numb so you don't feel what we're doing, but we can get you healthy.
Why do my teeth feel weird after a cleaning?
If we have just removed all the bacteria and the hard deposits that sometimes were holding your teeth together, you may start to notice you feel a cleaner, smoother surface that your tongue can touch. You may also notice that some of the teeth feel looser because the calculus or tartar that was holding them together like a tight bridge is now gone. The teeth are back to moving, and that is the true health of the teeth that we can talk about afterwards.
Do gums heal after tartar removal in a cleaning?
Typically, if you're having any discomfort after a cleaning because the tissues were more infected, you can use Advil Dual Action, which has been voted the best over-the-counter pain reliever for oral pain. Typically, within one week, you'll have a decrease in bleeding, and in the next three weeks, you'll have a decrease in some of the swelling. The probing depth should go down by one to two millimeters to get you from health. For example, if you start off at a six, we're hoping to see it shrink down to a four.
Does teeth cleaning include cavities?
Your hygienist is your gateway to your health. If she is cleaning your teeth and finds an area that may be dark, stained, or a little bit mushy, she may take a picture or x-ray of the tooth and talk to you about the fact that you may have a cavity in that tooth. We will not fill or treat the cavity during that visit, but we will ensure that we get you to your dentist so they can treat you as best as possible.
How much does a dental cleaning cost?
In the dental cleaning, you'll receive a comprehensive review of your x-rays. We'll go through individual tooth charting to ensure they're healthy. We clean the tops and bottoms of the teeth. We also use a great powder called glycine, which is a natural powder that decreases inflammation. We'll review all of our findings and discuss your health care and how you can improve it.
Depending on your insurance, we will talk to you about the co-pay that you would pay versus what your insurance will pay and make sure that you get all set and ready. The best way to schedule a dental cleaning appointment is while you're already there in the office. If you know that every three months you go for a cleaning while you're sitting in the chair and you're there and present, make your next appointment. If it's at another doctor's office and alternating back and forth, we're happy to book your appointment with your other office. Then you can book three months later at our office and go home and forget about it.
Schedule Your Dental Cleaning Today
At Beach Perio, Implants & Medspa, you come first. Whether you need dental care or simply have questions, call us at (585) 440-3505 or email [email protected] to schedule your visit. Our team is here to help you every step of the way.