Difference of Professional Teeth Cleaning
If you want to know exactly what to expect during a teeth-cleaning procedure at the dentist’s office, let us give you a step-by-step account. This aims to ease some of your nervousness or anxiety about teeth cleaning. Better you know what’s going on. It’s actually painless and simple.
First, there’s a physical exam of the mouth, mostly done by the dental hygienist who looks inside your mouth, checking your teeth and gums with a small mouth mirror. The hygienist will look for signs of caries, gingivitis, and other concerns. The dentist gives the go signal to proceed.
Removing plaque and tartar along the gum line and in between the teeth is done with the aid of the mirror and the scaler. You’ll hear scraping, which is the hard sticky substances being removed. The more deposits you have, the more it takes time to scrape. Brushing and flossing may prevent plaque from hardening into tartar, but tartar already present can only be removed by professional scraping.
Gritty toothpaste-cleaning follows. The hygienist brushes your teeth with a high-powered electric brush dipped in a gritty toothpaste. The brush makes a grinding noise as it deep-cleans teeth surfaces and removes any tartar left behind. Professional cleanings use toothpaste that smells and tastes like regular toothpaste, but has a gritty consistency that gently scrubs teeth. You can’t use any abrasive toothpaste like this at home because it can wear down the enamel. That’s why this professional cleaning is done twice a year.
Then comes expert flossing by your hygienist which beats your own flossing at home, whether you floss or not. It can get deep between your teeth and locate any potential trouble spots where you might bleed at the gums. A professional flossing removes any leftover plaque or toothpaste from earlier in the cleaning process.
Next, you rinse out your mouth to get rid of any debris left. Your dental hygienist will usually give you a glass of rinse that contains liquid fluoride. You give it a good swish around in your mouth a few times.
The last step is applying fluoride treatment. This will help teeth fight against cavities in the next months. You can choose your flavor; it is either sticky or foamy and placed in a mouthpiece that fits over your teeth. This is left on your teeth for a minute or so. Additionally, a little fluoride varnish is painted onto the teeth that will harden when you salivate. You can eat or drink after this.
No Anxieties with Professional Teeth Cleaning
Feel at ease and relax when you have your professional teeth cleaning here at Overlake Dental. We guarantee you’ll have a worry-free and comfortable experience.
