Health starts with your mouth, your mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body. Keeping your mouth clean and disease free will be the beginning of a healthy body.
We see people of all ages for cleanings. We love seeing kids and have seen them as young as 10 months. The American Dental Association recommends having your teeth professionally cleaned at least twice a year for better oral health. Bi-annual professional teeth cleaning can help prevent gingivitis, tooth decay and ensure that any serious dental problems like cavities and cracked teeth are caught early on. There are some people that will require more than the recommended 2 cleanings a year; something you and your hygienist will discuss. There are different types of cleanings we perform : regular kids/adult cleaning, periodontal cleaning (perio-maintenance), quad scales (deep cleanings), and kids cleanings.
During a dental cleaning, your dental hygienist will perform other diagnostic, preventative, and educational services besides the removal of plaque and calculus on your teeth. These include:
- Reviewing and updating your medical history
- Extra oral exam (Oral cancer Exam) including head, neck, throat, tongue, collar bone.
- Performing dental X-rays or other examinations to detect tooth decay
- Stain removal
- Removal of all plaque, calculus, and bio-film.
- Application of fluoride for kids and adults.
- Cleaning of all extra-oral appliances such as dentures, partials, night-guards, snore-guards
- Periodontal charting-checking gums to make sure they are within normal limits.
The cleanings normally take about 45 mins to 1 hour. New patient adult cleanings start at 1 hr 15 mins.
We require a general baseline for each patient, so as a New Patient you will experience a Full Mouth Series (18 x-rays taken) which show every tooth and every tooth root. We are looking for calculus, decay, bone loss, abnormalities, tori, root resorption, and dead teeth (no nerve present).