Professional teeth cleaning is a preventive dental procedure that removes plaque and tartar to prevent dental diseases such as tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath, and dental infection. It is a quick and easy treatment that should be routinely incorporated into your oral hygiene routine as it is the most effective and affordable way to keep your oral health in excellent shape.
Aside from plaque removal, teeth cleaning also helps your dentist identify dental diseases as your dentist navigates all areas of your mouth. Early identification and treatment of dental problems prevents expensive and invasive dental treatments and improves your long-term oral health and well-being.
A trip to your dentist for professional teeth cleaning can do wonders to your oral health. Learn more about this procedure and what you should expect during a visit for teeth cleaning with our short read below.
What is Involved in Professional Teeth Cleaning?
The process involved in teeth cleaning is often divided into three important phases: check-up, scaling and polishing, and other additional procedures.
A check-up gives your dentist a general overview of the state of your oral health. Then, a checklist and dental chart will be accomplished. This includes a detailed assessment of each tooth, noting on the chart if there is a decay or infection present. Dental charting allows your dentist to create a treatment plan to address your oral health needs.
Then, scaling and polishing of each tooth is done. This will prove bacteria, plaque, tartar, and stains on all tooth surfaces, including under the gumline.
Lastly, depending on your oral health status, fluoride treatment may be applied or dental X-rays taken. These are additional steps taken to improve your oral health and enhance the beauty of your smile.
How Often Should You Get Your Teeth Cleaned?
The general rule is that you have to visit your dentist twice a year, or every six months, to have professional teeth cleaning done. Whether there is visible plaque or not, bi-annual visits will prevent bacteria-filled plaque or tartar from hiding and thriving in less visible spots, such as underneath the gum line and on the back teeth.
But, this is not always the case. For some patients who can properly maintain their at-home hygiene practices and who do not have increased risk for dental diseases, once a year dental visit should be enough.
Meanwhile, for patients who have risk factors for gum disease and tooth decay, such as poor oral hygiene, smoking, medical conditions that cause dry mouth, and those on medications that affect the oral health, they may be required to visit 3-4 times a month depending on their condition. This will prevent bacteria build-up that may aggravate certain dental diseases.
Because of certain variations, it is still best to visit your dentist for a check-up so they can determine the ideal frequency of your dental visits for teeth cleaning.
What Happens During a Teeth Cleaning?
At Arbutus Station Dental, professional teeth cleaning is accomplished with these five steps:
- Thorough dental examination
A dental examination involves completing a dental chart to evaluate the health of each tooth, identify any dental diseases, and create a customized treatment plan based on your dentist’s assessment.
- Scaling plaque and tartar
Then, teeth cleaning will begin by scaling each tooth surface using a high-frequency ultrasonic scaler. This will vibrate against the tooth to effectively remove plaque, hard tartar, and stubborn stains. It is important to also scale under the gums to remove the deposits attached to the root surfaces.
- Polishing the tooth
When plaque and bacteria are removed, the next step is to polish the teeth using a gritty toothpaste. This can help whiten the teeth by effectively removing surface stains and buffing the tooth surfaces for a brighter smile.
- Flossing in-between the teeth and under the gumline
Flossing is an essential part of professional teeth cleaning as it removes food debris that cannot be removed by scaling. This also reaches beneath the gum line to remove remaining dirt.
- Applying fluoride treatment
The last step is to apply fluoride. This is an important mineral that provides protection to the tooth enamel by making it less resistant to decay from the acids released by bacteria in the mouth.
Other Essential Steps
Aside from these five steps in professional teeth cleaning, other procedures that your dentist may recommend depending on your individual needs may include:
Dental Sealants
Sealants are a preventive treatment that is applied on the surfaces of the back teeth, or the premolars and molars. These teeth are prone to decay due to deep grooves that can accumulate bacteria and plaque easily. To prevent this problem, a sealant is applied to cover these areas.
Dental X-rays
If you are a new patient to the clinic, a full mouth X-ray may be recommended to serve as a guide in evaluating your oral health and as reference for your future dental treatments. If certain dental diseases are present, such as decay or infection, an X-ray will provide your dentist with a closer look to determine the best treatment plan.
Gum and Periodontal Health Check-up
Patients with existing gum and periodontal disease may be required to undergo a more thorough assessment with periodontal probing. This will determine the severity of the disease so our team can design a suitable treatment plan.
Teeth Whitening
If you want to take your smile up a notch, our team recommends getting a teeth whitening done. At Arbutus Station Dental, our In-Office Teeth Whitening is done using an advanced laser whitening system. This modern technology instantly brightens the smile up to 8 shades lighter in under an hour.
Professional teeth cleaning is an integral step to your oral hygiene care and maintenance. It maintains the beauty and health of the smile, helps prevent certain dental diseases by removing bacteria, and allows your dentist to better understand the status of your oral health for more personalized smile solutions.
So, if it has been a while since your last teeth cleaning or if you are due for your routine cleaning, call us at Arbutus Station Dental so we can schedule your appointment!