Why is Teeth Cleaning Important?

To keep a smile beautiful and attractive, it is important to keep your teeth clean and shiny. While most people keep to regular brushing and flossing to ensure the health of their teeth, they may still fall prey to the ever-present bacteria in the mouth. Bacteria can take the form of plaque or tartar, a sticky film that sticks to the teeth right along or below the gum line. This causes the gums to swell and bleed, and lead to a bad odor and taste in the mouth. When left untreated, these may even lead to severe gum problems like receding gums and other periodontal or gum diseases.

Teeth Cleaning or Scaling

Tooth cleaning is a non-surgical process that stops and treats periodontitis or gum disease in its initial stages. It restores the health of your teeth by removing tartar and calculus build-up from the tooth, and deep cleans the surrounding gums.

Why is teeth cleaning important?

The regular cleaning of your teeth is important in removing bacteria build-up and to keep gum diseases at bay. Ignoring gum problems can cause irreversible damage to teeth and surrounding gums, and can lead to periodontal pockets and the breakdown of bones. Apart from causing havoc in your mouth, gum diseases also impact your overall health. They can cause indigestion, increase the risk of a heart attack, and even make it difficult to manage diabetes. What’s more, later stage gum diseases may even require surgery that is not only extensive and complicated, but will also cost a lot of money.

When to go for teeth cleaning?

A healthy mouth is the key to a healthy body. Experts recommend that you should have a professional dental check-up at least twice a year even if you follow a strict oral hygiene routine at home. However, if your dentist suggests you need to visit him/her for cleaning sooner, it would be best to heed this recommendation. Of course, if you are experiencing problems with your gums, or if you have uneven and discolored teeth due to plaque, it is best not to delay seeing the dentist.

What Does Teeth Cleaning and Scaling Involve?

The process of cleaning a tooth involves scraping away the hardened plaque or tartar. This process is also termed prophylaxis, and includes the following steps:

• The dentists will first floss your teeth. Then, he will use either a scaler and curette, or an ultrasonic instrument to remove plaque. While the scaler and curette require touching the rough areas to get a feel of tartar deposits, the ultrasonic instrument uses a vibrating metal tip and a cooling spray of water to wash off the tartar.
• Tartar removal is generally followed by teeth polishing. This involves the use of a hand instrument with a soft rubber cup that contains prophylaxis paste. It spins and runs over the teeth to make them smooth and shiny.
• If you have periodontal pockets and infection, the dentist may place antibiotic fibers in them to hasten the process of healing. These are removed a week later.
• Some dentists also apply fluoride to strengthen your teeth, in which case, you are advised to abstain from eating or drinking for the half an hour following the procedure.

Does it hurt?

Tooth cleaning is a fairly simple and gentle procedure. Unless you have sore gums or exposed dentin, it should not cause any hurt or discomfort.. All you may feel is some pressure on your teeth from scraping and some vibrations. The process does not take more than 45-60 minutes.

Visit http://worlddental.ca/teeth-cleaning-scaling for more information on teeth cleaning and scaling.