Caring for your teeth means more than regular flossing and brushing every day. Comprehensive care must involve a dentist visit at least every six months for a professional checkup and cleaning. A deep cleaning may sound like something to do after having missed many dental appointments or eating a messy meal. However, it is essential to treating diseases, such as gum disease, and preventing them.
Note that not all reliable dentists in Westchase, Florida will perform the same procedures. The types of procedures will not only vary by professional but also by your specific situation. Different types of cleaning are useful in different cases. They all do one thing—cleaning teeth—but their processes vary. They include:
Prophylaxis Cleaning
Also referred to as routine cleaning, prophylaxis cleaning is done on healthy patients, whose teeth need maintenance. The procedure will often be carried out by a hygienist and get rid of plaque in the teeth. The hygienist may also remove calculus and go further to take care of tooth staining. However, the only stains handled here are the surface-level ones.
Prophylaxis will not be performed on damaged teeth, especially if the damage is severe. It is recommended that this cleaning method supplements a daily routine for oral hygiene. It is also recommended that one undergoes this cleaning once in six months to prevent plaque buildup on the teeth surfaces and to remove already hardened plaque.
Root Planing and Scaling
The dentist will recommend this cleaning for a patient with gum disease. It may also be administered for people who are at high risks of contracting the disease. When excess plaque builds up in the teeth over an extended time without any cleaning, it hardens to become calculus or tartar. It is often the reason behind periodontal disease or other oral health issues. Root planing and scaling will help remove tartar. If you notice bleeding gums on yourself or on a loved one, especially after brushing, alongside loose teeth or swollen gums, you may be due for a deep tooth cleaning.
Debridements
This dental cleaning process is typically administered to identify any tooth issues that the dentist might have missed in the initial dental cleaning. The process will often be recommended for people who have not seen a dentist in over a year or people with calculus on the surface of their teeth. The dentist works the teeth thoroughly to remove buildup and plaque even on the gums. This process will take less than ten minutes. Note that debridements performed on severely damaged teeth will take longer.
When visiting a dentist for a dental cleaning, expect that they will use instruments to probe and measure your teeth to see if there is any pocketing where bacteria can form. It is recommended that every adult receives a periodontal evaluation once a year to see if they need additional treatment. Sometimes the dentist may also recommend a follow-up after the first cleaning. Expect that your teeth will feel sensitive for the first week after cleaning, but that will pass.