Keeping up with our oral health care can sometimes feel like a daunting task. With our busy schedules, using our time for brushing, flossing, and dentist checkups can easily get pushed to the “I’ll do it later” list and when we think of it you may already be comfortable in your bed.
Professional teeth cleanings and regular checkups are essential to our oral health care. Brushing and flossing do not stop plaque from turning into tartar. Brushing and flossing are not effective in removing the tartar. A professional tooth cleaning is the most effective way to remove tartar.
Let’s look at what professional teeth cleaning entails along with the steps that should be taken to help ensure our best oral hygiene. Along the way, we will also learn how sugar is our enemy and how it promotes tartar and plaque.
Why You Need Professional Teeth Cleanings?
If you want to protect your mouth from infections and your teeth from decay you will want professional teeth cleanings. We all should be brushing our teeth twice daily for at least two minutes along with daily flossing. This brushing and flossing are not enough to keep our mouth in the best possible health. Professional teeth cleaning is necessary to combat the buildup of plaque. Plaque, when it hardens, turns into tartar. Brushing and flossing cannot remove tartar.
Professional teeth cleanings are needed to prevent cavities and periodontal disease. Having professional cleanings help prevent problems like gum disease. More serious conditions have been linked with gum disease. This includes but isn’t limited to strokes, dementia, heart disease, and more.
First Step of a Professional Teeth Cleaning is an Exam
Professional dental cleaning has two different parts. First, the dentist will do what is commonly called a checkup. This is the examination of your teeth. The dentist will take x-rays to identify any inconsistencies in the structure of your teeth. The dentist is also looking for those dreaded cavities. The exam will continue to check the teeth for plaque and tartar buildup. Part of the oral exam is to look for gingivitis. If you have gingivitis the spaces or pockets between your teeth are much deeper when compared to healthy gums. A tool is used to measure the space between your teeth and gums.
The Second Step of Professional Teeth Cleaning
Four Types of Dental Cleanings
- Prophylaxis Dental Cleaning is our regular dental cleanings. These are the cleanings that are recommended by the American Dental Association every six months. The cleaning is generally provided by a dental hygienist. The goal of the prophylaxis cleaning is to include the removal of tartar and plaque build-up. Plaque that hardens turns into tartar. Regular brushing and flossing will diminish the amount of plaque in your mouth. However, once plaque hardens and turns into tartar, then professional cleaning is necessary to remove tartar buildup. These regular cleanings will help maintain the health of your teeth, and mouth. A prophylaxis cleaning will also most certainly aid and prevent the advancement of gum disease (gingivitis).
- Deep cleanings are known as scaling and root planing. Scaling and root planning cleanings are used to treat gingivitis and periodontitis. Deep cleaning is generally finished in one dental appointment for gingivitis. However, deep cleaning for periodontics will likely need more than one appointment and could need local anesthetics depending on the severity. A scaler is used to remove plaque and tartar off the surface of the tooth. This process is called scaling, it includes removing plaque and tartar from gum pockets that are below the gum line. Pockets of plaque and tartar that form below the gum line are called gum disease or gingivitis. Root planing is used to smooth root surfaces. Smoothing root surfaces helps keep bacteria, plaque, and tartar from attaching again under the gumline. Root planing aids in the healing of gums and promotes root reattachment that helps with teeth stability. Root planing also decreases gum tissue inflammation.
- Periodontal maintenance cleanings treat gum disease. Periodontal maintenance cleanings remove excess plaque and tartar from gum pockets and tooth surfaces. Periodontal maintenance cleanings also help with general bone health inside our mouths. These maintenance cleanings are utilized more often than all of the other types of dental cleanings.
- Gross debridement cleanings are for the toughest of jobs. The gross debridement cleaning is used to remove large amounts of plaque and tartar. These cleanings are usually reserved for those that have neglected their oral hygiene and go long periods of time without any professional cleanings. An electronic tool, usually an ultrasonic device, is used to loosen tartar. This tool is used because plaque in the mouth has hardened and has produced large amounts of tartar. When the excess amounts of plaque and tartar have been removed, a regular prophylaxis cleaning is performed to finish cleaning the teeth. After the different types of deep cleanings, your mouth needs irrigation with an antibiotic. It will also be likely that your dentist will prescribe an oral antibiotic. A follow-up appointment will be requested by the dentist to check that your mouth is no longer infected and is sufficiently healing.
What is Plaque?
Plaque is a bacteria that constantly forms on teeth. This sticky film-like bacteria produces acids after you eat and drink. Tooth enamel is destroyed by plaque and plaques can cause cavities and gingivitis (gum disease).
Hardened Plaque Turns Into Tartar
Plaques that are unremoved will harden and turn into even harder to remove tartar. Tartar cannot be removed by brushing and flossing. When plaque accumulates under your gums on tooth roots this causes the jawbone to deteriorate. The jawbone is the footing for our teeth and helps with stability. When you run your tongue over your teeth and you feel the roughness on your teeth, this is plaque.
What is Tartar?
Tartar is the hardened plaque. Plaque that is not removed and then hardens turns into even tougher to remove tartar. Removing plaque is one of the reasons why daily oral hygiene is very important.
Fighting the good fight against plaque is not enough. No matter how well we take care of our oral hygiene we are still going to get tartar. Unless you have an ultimate set of tools like Spicoli’s dad, you will likely need professional cleanings to help with the removal of tartar.
Tartar, also called calculus (no. . . not the math), is porous and can lead to receding gums and also gum disease. Tartar forms both below and above the gum line. Tartar ends up irritating the gums and causes damage to your gums. As gum disease, also called gingivitis progresses, pockets are formed between the teeth and gums. When these pockets become infected this is called periodontitis. Your immune system will send chemicals to attack the bacteria, but the chemical reaction that goes on between the bacteria and the soldiers your body produces to fight the bacteria can cause damage to the bones and the tissue that holds your teeth in place.
How to Avoid Tartar Build Up
Surgery foods lead to excessive plaque and as you have read, hardened plaque turns into tartar. As we have heard a thousand times before starting from when we were children, avoid surgery foods. Foods to stay away from include:
- Soft Drinks (Soda) or (Pop for those of you in Illinois)
- Cakes
- Candy
- Cookies
- Pies and cobblers (Oh I love a good cobbler)
- Doughnuts (Nooooo!)
- Ice Cream
- Fruit Juice
- Sports Drinks
- Many breakfast cereals
What Happens if I Don’t Get Professional Cleanings?
Neglecting twice-yearly cleanings will lead to complications. Maybe not today, but if you put these cleanings off the consequences will catch up with you. The lack of professional cleanings will most certainly lead to more and more costly dental work.
Not only will your regular dental cleanings help with fighting unwanted plaque and tartar. Regular dental cleanings will also help you learn if you have other health problems starting in your mouth.
Cavities and tooth decay still happen to those that are the most diligent with their oral upkeep. Finding a cavity early will enable you to get the filing you need to keep the cavity from getting any worse. If a cavity goes too long without treatment, the likelihood of that tooth becoming infected and needing to be extracted becomes greater. If the cavity continues to decay, this also starts to break down the jawbone near the affected tooth. The more a jawbone deteriorates, the less likely it becomes to be able to house an implant without at least a bone graft.
How to Keep Your Teeth Clean Between Cleanings
- No Sugary Drinks — Sugary drinks like soda contain phosphoric acid and citric acid. These ingredients promote the decrease of tooth enamel. Decreased enamel simply increases the chances of cavities.
- Sugar is The Enemy — Sugar promotes acidity and bacterial growth inside of your mouth. This enhances plaque to form on the teeth. Plaque attaches itself to your teeth enamel and gums leading to tooth decay (cavities). Most of us enjoy a sugary treat on occasion. Brushing and flossing after a “sugar fix” will decrease the main enemy (sugar) from harming our months.
- Proper Brushing — Technique when brushing teeth is very important. Improper technique will greatly diminish the effectiveness of your brushing. It is a good idea to talk to your dentist or hygienist about proper brushing techniques. When was the last time any of us really thought about our technique when brushing our teeth? Here is a video from YouTube you might find helpful as a refresher on proper tooth brushing techniques. https://youtu.be/BapR9J86ZZw
- Floss — Getting to places our toothbrush can’t reach is very important. Proper technique when flossing is very important just like brushing. You need to be careful when flossing. Improper flossing can lead to gum damage. Here is another video to help you learn the proper flossing techniques. https://youtu.be/BdxtIfcMFM0?t=121
What is Gingivitis?
Gingivitis is known as gum disease or periodontal disease. When the gum around the base of your teeth becomes irritated with redness and swelling this is gingivitis. Gingivitis is common and mild. This means that gingivitis is easily manageable with proper oral care and trips to the dentist.
Poor oral hygiene is the most common cause of gingivitis. Gingivitis is reversible, this starts with good oral hygiene. The basics of good oral hygiene are brushing twice daily, along with regular daily flossing and dental checkups.
Symptoms of Gingivitis
- Swollen Gums
- Gums that bleed easily when brushed or flossed
- Bad breath — bacteria that live in plaque produce a terrible odor.
- Sore gums
- Loose teeth
- Changes in how your teeth feel inside your mouth — This is noticeable when your teeth feel like their position in your mouth has changed.
- Tooth pain — Happens when chewing certain foods. If you notice yourself chewing on one side of your mouth constantly this could be a sign of tooth pain you are avoiding.
- Tooth sensitivity — When teeth are exposed to hot and cold foods or drinks is how we may experience tooth sensitivity. When gums pull away from teeth is when sensitivity is felt.
- Dusky red or dark red gums
Key Takeaways: Do I Need Professional Teeth Cleanings
Having a regular routine for your oral care is essential. The core of your routine should be twice daily brushing along with regular flossing. Additional brushing should be added throughout the day if you eat sugary foods or drinks. Remember, anything sugar is the main enemy when it comes to the upkeep of our oral healthcare.
Seeing a dentist every six months for cleanings should also be a staple of our routine. The dentist and oral hygienist will provide the necessary exams to see if we have cavities and other tooth decay. We know when plaque hardens it turns into tartar. No matter how diligent we are fighting back plaque with our brushing and flossing it is a losing battle. All the brushing and flossing in the world can’t remove tartar. This is when our regular checkups and cleanings can beat back the tartar enemy and get our month back to a level of freshness we can enjoy.
Knowing what issues our mouth and teeth are having is the best way to combat and manage tooth decay. Neglecting the oral health care of our mouths often leads to other greater health problems that we want to avoid.
