Do you make time for regular dental cleanings? Regular dental prophylaxis is a simple, straightforward and very non-invasive procedure that can be carried out every time you visit your dentist for regular six monthly check-ups. A good professional prophylaxis is an easy way to help look after your teeth and gums and this treatment should form part of your regular preventative dental care plan. It’s also extremely cost-effective, and may alleviate the need for more expensive dental procedures to treat advanced gum disease or to fill cavities.
What Is the Purpose of a Dental Prophylaxis?
Dental prophylaxis is quite a comprehensive treatment and provides you with much more than just a tooth cleaning. During this treatment we will remove all hardened plaque or calculus from your teeth as these deposits cannot be removed through regular brushing and flossing. Removing calculus decreases your risk of developing gum disease which is the most common cause of tooth loss in the world. Calculus can be gently scraped away from your teeth using special instruments or sometimes hand held ultrasonic instruments are used to loosen more stubborn deposits. Afterwards teeth can be selectively polished, a procedure that is safe and which can help remove light surface stains. It’s a great way to keep your teeth looking nice all the time.
Gum Health
During this appointment we may closely examine your gums, looking for any signs that they are infected. You might notice we gently probe your gums and this is to measure the depth of any pockets in between your gums and your teeth. Normal healthy gums will fit tightly around the teeth, only having a small gap of 3 mm or less. Gums that are infected will have larger and deeper pockets that will need extensive cleaning to help them heal more easily. This type of deep cleaning is called scaling and root planing and takes things further than dental prophylaxis, removing hardened deposits from just below the gum line and from any exposed tooth roots.
Brush up Your Oral Care Skills
This appointment is a great opportunity for you to improve your dental education. You’ll find educating patients is an important part of any good dental practice these days and dentists are always more than delighted to help patients improve their brushing techniques and their flossing skills. During your prophylaxis, your hygienist will have identified any areas that could do with improvement as it is very easy to miss out certain areas during regular brushing and flossing.
Dentists are very aware that lots of people do not enjoy flossing, but when you know how it is very easy to do. Cleaning in between your teeth is critical for good oral hygiene and is one of the simplest ways to protect yourself against gum disease as it is the most effective way to remove plaque and food debris from right in between your teeth. Please have a chat with your dentist if you feel this way about flossing so they can help you find a method of cleaning in between your teeth that you feel happy using every day.
Yours in oral health,
