Maintaining a good oral hygiene routine is essential for keeping your mouth healthy and your smile beautiful. A major part of maintaining good oral health is by brushing your teeth at least twice a day and flossing at least once a day. While these habits are essential, they are only a part of maintaining optimal oral health. At West End Dental, we can help you to protect the health of your mouth, and the quality of your smile, with regular
cleanings and exams.
Cleanings
The American Dental Association recommends twice yearly cleanings in addition to daily brushing and flossing to help you maintain optimal oral health. During your cleanings, we can remove plaque and bacteria from all surfaces of your teeth, including the areas that you may not be able to effectively clean at home.
Your cleanings start with a thorough scraping of your teeth. Using a specialized tool, we scrape away all buildup from the surfaces of your teeth, including around and just below the gum line. We are even able to eliminate stubborn tartar or hardened plaque, that cannot be removed no matter how much you brush.
After scraping the surfaces of your teeth, we then polish them. Polishing the teeth is done using an electric handpiece outfitted with a rotating head and a special dental polish. The polish contains abrasives that scrub the surfaces of your teeth that not only clean them but remove surface stains as well, leaving you with a cleaner, whiter smile. Finally, we floss your teeth, which is done to remove buildup from between your teeth, including loose debris and polish that may have accumulated during your cleaning.
Exams
In addition to twice-yearly cleanings, the ADA also recommends twice yearly exams. These exams are generally done at the same appointment as your cleanings. They are performed to spot oral health issues in their earliest stages. Most oral health issues do not exhibit any symptoms when they are first developing. By the time you notice anything is wrong, the issue has developed into something more serious. With routine exams, we can spot the early warning signs of a variety of different oral health issues. We are then able to provide you with the treatments you need to restore your oral health, preventing more serious complications from arising later.
During your exams, we look over the visible structures of your mouth. Your teeth are looked over for signs of decay, chips, cracks, and other damage. We look over your gums for signs of redness, swelling, gum recession, and periodontal pockets. We also look over the soft tissues of your mouth to check for abnormalities that could point to
oral cancer.
Dental exams also include periodic
X-rays. While they are not taken at every exam, X-rays allow us to monitor the hidden structures of your mouth, including your tooth roots and your jawbone. We can check for root damage, cysts, abscesses, bone loss, impacted teeth and more. Again, by spotting issues before you notice any
symptoms, we can take action to restore your oral health in less invasive manners, preventing more serious complications from developing.
Regular cleanings and exams, in addition to brushing and flossing every single day, helps you to maintain your oral health and prevent a myriad of oral health issues from developing. If it is time for you to schedule your next cleaning and exam, call West End Dental today at (503) 446-2957.
