Dental Hygiene

Teeth Cleaning

Every patient should visit their dental office for professional cleanings on a regular basis. Cleanings are crucial to your oral health, and to preserve any dental work you may already have.

The American Dental Association advises that average patients have professional dental cleanings at least every six months. But in many cases, cleaning appointments should occur even more frequently. That’s why it’s advisable to ask that your dentist evaluate your smile; this allows them to determine how often you’ll need professional cleanings. If Dr. Hsu and his expert team recommend that you have a cleaning every 3 to 4 months, it is because they feel this interval will be of most benefit to your dental and overall health. Therefore, it’s important to follow their recommendation in order to prevent dental problems like decay and periodontal disease.

What can I expect during my professional cleaning appointment?

During a cleaning visit, the dental hygienist will first check your gums in an exam called periodontal probing depths. With the information obtained from this exam, the dentist can determine whether or not you have gum disease. In patients with no infection, the hygienist will then perform what’s called a preventive cleaning. Preventive cleanings are also known as a prophylaxis or “prophy”. For this procedure, the hygienist uses ultrasonic tools to remove plaque and tartar build-up from teeth surfaces. Then, the teeth are polished using high-performance brushes, which remove remaining staining. Finally, the hygienist flosses the patient, and asks them to rinse with fluoride mouthwash. In some cases, the dentist may also apply fluoride for the purpose of preventing decay.

For patients with gum disease, the cleaning procedure will be different. In these cases, a prophylactic cleaning is not enough to heal the gums and remove the tartar located below the gumline. To accomplish these goals in patients with gum disease, the dentist will typically recommend additional periodontal therapy, which may include scaling and root planing. These treatments are more extensive, and together, are known as “deep cleaning.”

What is Gingivitis?

Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gums. This condition represents the earliest stage of periodontal disease. If left untreated, gingivitis can progress to the point of causing further damage to the bone tissue that anchors teeth.

Any patient who notices bleeding when they brush or floss should schedule an appointment to have their gums checked. During the appointment, Dr. Hsu will assess their smile and suggest treatment if any signs of gingivitis are detected. It’s absolutely essential to understand that gingivitis is not only treatable, but reversible when caught in its early stages.

How is Gingivitis treated?

Gingivitis can occur due to many factors, but it’s typically caused by the buildup of plaque along the gum line. This plaque build-up leads to inflammation of the gums, which causes the bleeding.

The most common approach to treating gum inflammation is to undergo professional cleanings and proper daily home care such as brushing and flossing.

However, sometimes that approach will not be sufficient, making it necessary for the dentist to use other tools like dental laser and antimicrobial rinses to help eliminate bacteria and reduce inflammation.

It’s crucial to treat gingivitis in its early stages, or it will likely progress to periodontal disease, which is a condition that causes irreversible damage to periodontal tissues.

What are the most common signs of Gingivitis?

The primary and most common sign of Gingivitis is bleeding gums. This bleeding can occur during brushing or flossing, but can also happen spontaneously. Another common symptom of the condition is persistent bad breath or halitosis that occurs a short while after brushing.

If you notice any bleeding or recurrent bad breath, or your gums appear swollen and are tender, it’s important to make an appointment at Crystal Lake so that Dr. Hsu can evaluate your oral health and suggest proper treatment.

Periodontal Therapy: Scaling and Root Planing

For patients who have been diagnosed with periodontal disease, the usual chosen course of treatment is a deep-cleaning procedure that is called scaling and root planing, or SRP. This treatment involves cleaning and polishing the roots of the teeth in order to remove dental plaque and stubborn tartar. Two or more appointments are usually needed for the SRP procedure, and on occasion, the areas will first need to be numbed to make the patient more comfortable.

In some cases, the dentist may also need to use a dental laser and other treatments, such as antibiotic therapy or medical rinses to eliminate bacteria from tooth roots and the surrounding gum tissue.

How to treat late-stage periodontal disease?

In its later stages, periodontal disease is more difficult to control. By this time, a significant amount of bone tissue has typically been lost around the tooth root. In time, if the disease keeps progressing, the only viable alternative is to remove the tooth and install a dental bridge or an implant to replace it.

Periodontal disease is one of the most frequent causes of tooth loss. At Crystal Lake, we understand that treating gum disease is so important, because:

We encourage all of our patients to visit our office on a regular basis, and develop healthy home care habits with proper techniques. This will help to control periodontal disease in its earlier stages, preventing potential significant problems from developing.