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One of the most important for oral health is prophylaxis, more commonly known as a teeth cleaning. There are several reasons that everyone should have regular dental visits and dental cleanings. It might sound like the only point of prophylaxis is to make your teeth white and clean, but there are a lot of more important reasons that giving us a shiny smile.
Before you go to the dentist, there are a couple of things you should know about a dental cleaning. A lot of people are curious to what happens? is it going to hurt? and why you have to have regular cleanings?
Why Teeth Cleanings are Important
One of the most important things about a teeth cleaning is the removing of tartar on the teeth. Even if you brush your teeth every day (like you should), it’s impossible to get all of the plaque and tartar on your teeth, especially around the gum line. With a dental cleaning, all of the built up tartar can be removed in the places that you could be missing, which can help prevent cavities.
A whiter smile is always a good thing. Aside from the oral health advantages, who doesn’t want a prettier smile? Getting your teeth clean with the professional dental tools can make a huge impact on the look of your smile. You’ll be surprised by how much of a difference the teeth cleaning will make. Cleanings remove the stains that are left behind by food and drink that your normal toothbrush won’t be able to fix. This is also a great time to talk to your dentist about teeth whitening if you’ve always wanted a whiter smile.
Not only will your smile look better, but it could smell better as well. Much like cleaning out the built up tartar in your mouth, there could be some hidden foods particles and germs in your mouth that are causing bad breath. If you find that people are starting to avoid you in the mornings, it could be time to get a teeth cleaning to freshen up your mouth.
Getting regular teeth cleanings also helps prevent any serious problems like gum disease. Gum disease is the body’s way of fighting off the tartar buildup. It can lead to swollen or tender gums, tooth loss, sensitive teeth, bleeding gums, painful chewing and more. In fact, preventing gum disease also reduces your risk of having a stroke, heart disease, and dementia. Brushing your teeth every day and getting regular professional cleanings can drastically reduce your risk of getting gum disease.
What does a Teeth Cleaning Involve?
So, what should you expect when you go for a teeth cleaning? Going to the dentist to get a teeth cleaning make a lot of people nervous, but it isn’t as bad as many people think. One of the first things that the dentist will do is a supragingival cleaning, which is a fancy way of saying they will clean the teeth that are above the gum line. They will use different scaling tools to scrape off plaque.
After that above the gum, line cleaning is the subgingival cleaning, which as you can guess, is cleaning the teeth below the gum line. The dentist will clean the pockets in the gum and all of the areas beneath the gum that you can’t clean on an everyday basis.
Depending on your oral health, your dentist could do root planing and scaling next. Root planing is done more as a “deep cleaning” for your teeth. This process involves using unique tools to eliminate plaque and inflammation at the gum line and right below it.
The cleaning will also involve the dentist looking for any severe problems like oral cancer, cavities, or other complications. Depending on the situation, after the cleaning, the dentist could suggest additional x-rays if none have been done. This is the best time for the dentist to detect any problems early and fix them as soon as possible.
The importance of regular dentist visits and oral health
It’s obvious to see why regular cleanings and dentist visits are necessary. It keeps your mouth and body healthy, as well as gives you more confidence with a nice smile. But how often should you go to the dentist? Most experts suggest that people with excellent oral hygiene and a history of good health can get by with only going once a year (twice is better), but people with complications should go to the dentist every three or four months, or more if they dentist suggests.
Apart from regularly brushing your teeth and flossing, going to the dentist is one of the most important things you can do. Your oral health can have a huge impact on the health of the rest of your body. Not only does a healthy smile keep you from problems like gum disease, but it also gives you the confidence to flash those pearly whites.
Going to the dentist is normally on the bottom of everyone’s to-do list, but avoiding the dentist for too long can have serious consequences. Dr. Goldsmith is dedicated to ensuring that his patients have the best oral health possible. Professional teeth cleanings are only one of the many services that we offer. We work to make these cleanings as easy and painless as possible. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, call us today at (317) 357-4018 or use the contact form.