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Dental Exams and Cleanings

Routine care and regular visits to the dentist are vital in maintaining oral and overall health. If you are eating a nutritious diet and limiting the amount of sugar you consume through foods and drinks, brushing after meals, and flossing at least 1x per day, you are giving yourself the advantages you need for healthy teeth and gums. Even though this approach will remove the majority of the plaque that forms inside of your mouth, plaque is a sneaky substance, hiding outside of the reach of your toothbrush and your floss. Over time it will harden into calculus, making it impossible to remove without a professional teeth cleaning. Plaque and calculus work together to destroy your tooth enamel as well as cause a variety of issues for your gums. A professional teeth cleaning will remove any plaque and calculus that you are unable to reach between teeth or at the gum line, giving you a fresh start on your oral health.

A comprehensive teeth cleaning includes a physical checkup of both your teeth and gums, x-rays, an analysis of your bite as well as screening for oral cancer. It is important to assess how much, if any, damage plaque and calculus have caused to your teeth and gums. If you are showing any symptoms, however subtle, of gingivitis (the first stage of gum disease) it is essential to address it as soon as possible before it can progress to the more advanced stage of periodontitis. In most cases gingivitis can be reversed with a simple teeth cleaning. Your dentist may determine that a second cleaning is needed to remove all of the plaque and calculus. Once removal of plaque and calculus has been achieved, it is equivalent to hitting the reset button on the health of your teeth and gums. Getting a cleaning twice yearly, along with your full dental exam, is the best way to stop both tooth decay and gum disease in their tracks.