Dental Hygiene

Dental Checkups & Cleanings

Regular dental checkups are important for maintaining good oral and dental hygiene and health. Regular checkups can also help you save money over the long term, since small problems are more easily and cheaply taken care of if caught early. Additionally, regular dental checkups can even save your life.

First of all, by going for regular dental checkups, you are better able to maintain and care for your teeth and gums. This is because a dentist will examine your teeth and find out if they require cleaning, cavity filling, and/or other preventative or corrective measures. Crooked teeth can be examined, and any issues, such as halitosis, can be addressed.

Your teeth are not the only important part of your mouth. Your gums are essential to oral hygiene as well. We can provide periodontal cleanings and treatment, or refer you to one of our recommended specialists. Please let us know if you have any questions

Periodontal Treatments

By performing such routine examinations, many larger future dental problems are prevented. For example, by having a dental cleaning, your teeth not only look and feel better, but are less likely to cause gum recession and/or inflammation down the line. Also, by having a small tooth cavity filled today, you potentially prevent tooth loss or a root canal in the future.

While at our office, we make sure that you receive the highest level of service and ensure that our dental work is of the highest quality. To ensure that you maintain great oral health, this level of quality needs to extend into your personal oral hygiene routine. We can help you establish a dental hygiene routine that will keep your teeth healthy and white. If you have any questions about your current hygiene plan please ask us.

Having small procedures such as cleanings and fillings performed today also saves you money. A simple cleaning is inexpensive and may even be free under some dental insurance plans. However, treatment for inflamed and/or receding gums is both costly and time consuming. Likewise, a cavity filling may cost a little bit of money or small insurance co-pay. However, if your inattention to your small cavity leads to eventual tooth loss, then the money required for a dental bridge or dental implant will be significantly more. Even if only root canal therapy is needed, the cost of such a treatment can be as much as ten times the cost of a simple cavity filling.

What Is Periodontal Maintenance?

If you have periodontal disease, you may require root planing to remove diseased deposits from the roots of your teeth. Other treatment, including surgery, may be required. After the disease process is under control, a regular cleaning is not appropriate anymore. Instead you will require special on-going gum and bone care procedures, also known as periodontal maintenance to keep your mouth healthy.

What Is A Root Planing Procedure?

Root planning removes bacteria and their toxins, tartar, and diseased deposits from the surfaces of tooth roots. Scraping or scaling is required the full length of the root surface, down to where the root, gum and bone disease (periodontal disease).

Periodontal disease is very common, but does not always have distinct symptoms. It is an inflammation and infection of the supporting structures of the teeth (gums, bone, ligaments, root surfaces) that eventually results in the loss of teeth. You may notice that your gums bleed easily, that you have a bad taste in your mouth, that your gums appear red or swollen, that your teeth appear longer or have shifted. Or you may not notice anything at all.