Do You See The Dental Hygienist Regularly?

Seeing the hygienist at our Wickford practice gives you the best chance of maintaining healthy teeth and gums

With better knowledge about dental care and the link with our general health and wellbeing being more widely available, most people do now see a dentist every six months or so for a regular checkup, and for any treatment where it is needed.

The same is not always the case when it comes to seeing the hygienist though with it often being seen as an ‘optional extra’. In fact, seeing the hygienist is one of the most important things that you can do from a preventative point of view. One of the areas that they focus on is one that we tend to think of as secondary when it comes to looking after our teeth, and that is our gum health.

Gum health is very important, not only for our teeth, but increasingly, studies have linked gum diseases with other health concerns such as heart disease, strokes and Alazheimer’s disease. Gum disease is preventable and some good home cleaning including a good brushing routine and the use of floss will certainly help to prevent it. Even then though, there are areas that we may not be able to clean effectively and this is one of the issues that will be addressed by the hygienist at the Cygnet Dental Practice when you have an appointment with them.

Preventative care role

The role of a dental hygienist falls into two categories, an advisory one and a treatment one. When you visit our clinic for an appointment with them, a part of your meeting will involve a discussion about your lifestyle, including any habits you have that might affect your gum health. The most obvious thing that might be discussed is whether you smoke or not. Smoking increases gum disease risks and you may be given advice on where to seek help to stop smoking. Your drinking habits may be discussed as well as questions around your teeth cleaning habits. For example, it is surprising how many people use a toothbrush that is long past its best. By simply replacing the toothbrush more often, you can see significant improvements in the health of your teeth and gums.

Treatment

The second part of your appointment will consist of a procedure known as a ‘scale and polish’. This is a non-invasive procedure and you shouldn’t need to have a local anaesthetic for it. Its aim is to remove the tartar which has built up on your teeth and around the gum line. Tartar consists of bacteria and mineral deposits which form a crust on the surfaces and which can’t be removed with standard brushing. This should not be confused with plaque which is a sticky form of bacteria which can be removed by yourself.

There are three parts to the scale and polish procedure.

Firstly, a manual scaling is carried out using a hand scaler. This enables the hygienist to remove a large portion of the tartar from your teeth and gums. It is not painful, but you may experience a ‘pulling’ sensation as the tartar is removed, especially from between the teeth.

The second part of the procedure uses a sonic tool. This is used to shatter most of the remaining tartar that the manual scaler didn’t remove. This is not uncomfortable and is a very effective way of reducing this problem.

Finally, a special rotating brush and toothpaste is used to give your teeth a thorough clean, removing any remaining tartar and in many cases, some surface staining too. This latter aspect provides an immediate aesthetic benefit for a lot of patients though some people may also want to investigate a teeth whitening procedure to achieve an even better smile.

The scale and polish procedure not only removes the problematic tartar but, as you will notice, the surface of your teeth will feel smoother too. Not only does this feel nicer when you run your tongue on the teeth, but also means that staining products and bacteria will find it more difficult to take hold there. Eventually, of course, this will happen and is why you should see a hygienist every six months whether you have any symptoms of gum disease or not.

We hope that this blog post encourages you to make an appointment with us and we are sure that once you have received this treatment, you will be delighted with how much cleaner and fresher your mouth both looks and feels. If you would like to make an appointment, for any reason, at our Wickford clinic, you can do so by calling the Cygnet Dental Practice today on 01268 733078.