We all know that it’s important to brush your teeth twice a day and floss once daily. However, some people mistakenly believe that following a consistent at-home hygiene regime means they can skip their routine dental appointments. This is simply not true.
Day-to-day oral care goes hand-in-hand with regular cleanings from your dentist. Both are needed to protect your teeth from decay and disease. Your oral health will suffer without professional dental cleanings every six months.
What happens during a regular dental cleaning?
Prophylaxis (Dental Cleanings)
Oral prophylaxis is the dental term for routine, preventative cleanings. This is the most common type of dental cleaning for patients with overall healthy teeth and gums. Typically performed by dental hygienists, it involves the removal of plaque and tartar from your teeth.
Your teeth are also checked for developing oral health conditions (this may include taking dental X-rays) and are polished during your 30-minute to 1-hour appointment.
Examination
When you visit your Mississauga dental clinic for a routine cleaning, we do more than just clean your teeth. We also examine your teeth and gums for oral health issues.
Since most dental diseases do not cause pain in their early stages, these examinations are crucial for detecting problems quickly. It’s much easier, faster, and cheaper to treat a small issue than a big problem.
For example, gingivitis is the first stage of gum disease. It’s reversible and easy to treat. However, if it progresses to full gum disease, treatment is much more extensive and time-consuming. The damage caused by gum disease cannot be reversed, which is why gum disease cannot be cured even once the infection is dealt with.
X-Rays
X-rays are often part of your routine examination. Mississauga clinics take new X-rays of your mouth every six to 36 months, depending on the state of your oral health.
If you have an issue that requires monitoring, you will need more frequent X-rays. Dental X-rays are perfectly safe and vital for detecting oral health problems like hidden cavities, areas of infection, impacted teeth, cysts, and some types of tumours.
Scaling
Dental scaling is a non-surgical procedure for removing plaque and tartar during routine prophylaxis appointments. Your Mississauga dentist or hygienist uses a small hand instrument called a scaler. Alternatively, they might use an ultrasonic scaler, which vibrates and sprays jets of water to dislodge plaque and tartar deposits.
Polishing
Once your teeth are free of plaque and tartar, the next step is polishing. The dentist or hygienist uses a slow-speed hand tool with a special paste or pumice to polish your teeth.
This removes the biofilm on the surface of your teeth, any lingering plaque, and some stains. It does not damage your enamel, but can brighten your smile by a shade or two!
Why are regular dental cleanings important?
Remove Plaque and Tartar Buildup
One of the primary purposes of regular dental cleanings is to remove plaque and tartar buildup. Plaque is the sticky film of bacteria that constantly forms on your teeth because your mouth is full of oral bacteria. Tartar, on the other hand, is hardened dental plaque. It’s also called calculus.
Even with a consistent and rigorous at-home oral hygiene regime, it’s almost impossible to prevent plaque entirely. The combination of oral bacteria, leftover food residue, and saliva functions like a never-ending plaque factory.
Proper brushing and flossing removes most of it; however, you also need routine dental cleanings. Your dental team in Mississauga has the right tools to fully remove plaque from your mouth, including those hard-to-reach places.
Although at-home brushing and flossing can remove plaque, the same cannot be said for tartar. Tartar can only be dislodged by your dental team in Mississauga. Dentists and hygienists use special tools to remove hardened tartar.
Prevent Dental Diseases
Routine dental cleanings are part of preventative dentistry. This field of dentistry focuses on the prevention of oral health conditions, like tooth decay and gum disease.
Many oral health conditions are a result of poor oral hygiene. For instance, cavities are caused by plaque and tartar buildup, bacterial overgrowth, and acidity in the oral environment. Proper oral hygiene (such as brushing, flossing, and routine dental cleanings) helps prevent cavities from forming.
Plaque buildup is the leading cause of periodontal disease. Therefore, you cannot combat oral diseases and other health issues without regular, thorough cleanings from a dental professional. After all, plaque and tartar removal is one of the main focuses of your routine visits to your Mississauga dental clinic.
Early Detection and Treatment
Ideally, we want to detect oral health issues as early as possible. It’s significantly easier and faster to treat problems in their early stages. Treatment tends to be less invasive, more affordable, have fewer risks of complications, and come with shorter recovery times.
Some oral health conditions can even be reversed, provided proper steps are taken in the early stages. Routine dental cleanings allow dentists to examine the mouth for signs of developing conditions and administer prompt treatment.
Maintain Your Oral Health
At Bristol Dental Clinic in Mississauga, we are your long-term partner in maintaining your oral health. Our primary goal is to ensure you enjoy good oral health for decades to come. Routine dental cleanings are a core part of how we do that.
Removing plaque and tartar buildup, as well as checking your mouth for developing problems, is crucial for positive dental health. You’re less likely to develop tooth decay, gum disease, infections, and other oral diseases.
What are some other benefits of regular dental cleanings?
Prevent Dental Erosion
Enamel is the outermost protective layer of your teeth. When it begins to wear down, it’s called dental erosion or enamel erosion. This can lead to tooth sensitivity, discomfort, hollows in your teeth, and tooth decay. Regular dental cleanings remove the plaque and tartar buildup that can eat away at the precious enamel, helping to prevent dental erosion.
Brighter Smile
Our smiles naturally lose brightness over time due to staining from food and beverages, aging, and other lifestyle factors. Although professional teeth whitening is the best way to dramatically improve the appearance of your smile, simple dental cleanings can help. During your appointment, the hygienist polishes away stains and discolouration, leaving your smile noticeably brighter.
Fresher Breath
Plaque and tartar buildup can cause bad breath, also called halitosis. Routine cleanings remove the harmful and smelly microbes that cling to the surface of your teeth and accumulate along the gum line. So, your smile won’t just look brighter—your breath will also smell better!
Better Overall Health
Increasingly, we’re coming to understand the connection between oral health and overall health. A healthy mouth has been linked to a reduced risk of developing or worsening a range of health conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, and strokes.
Cost Savings
Prevention is cheaper than treatment. Routine dental visits are far more economical than intensive oral procedures. It’s better for you and your wallet to invest in maintaining your oral health through proper oral hygiene, which includes visiting your Mississauga dentist regularly.
How often should you have your teeth cleaned?
Dental cleanings should be done every six months—more if you have an ongoing oral health issue that requires close monitoring. That means you need to make an appointment every six months to come see us at Bristol Dental Clinic.
Bristol Dental Clinic: Your Mississauga Dentist
Bristol Dental Clinic provides dental hygiene and teeth-cleaning services in Mississauga. Our wide range of services keeps your teeth bright, clean, and healthy. Furthermore, as a fully digital dental clinic, we use the latest technologies to provide the highest standard of dental care, safety, and comfort.
To book an appointment with a dentist in Mississauga, call Bristol Dental Clinic at 866-673-2109 or contact us here.
