Dental Cleanings
Our hygienists perform routine cleanings to maintain oral health and prevent disease, as well as therapeutic cleanings to treat gingivitis and periodontal
disease.
Your oral health and systemic health are connected, so we strongly believe in the importance of routine continuing care visits not only for a healthy smile, but also to help prevent heart disease, diabetes, pulmonary disease, low birth weight and premature delivery, still birth, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, pancreatic cancer, obesity, and hypertension.
As a patient in our office, we will perform the appropriate diagnostics to determine your periodontal staging and grading diagnosis. With this diagnosis, our hygienists will recommend the appropriate type of dental cleaning for your optimal oral health. In some cases, this may also include partnering with a periodontal specialist. Outlined below, are the types of cleanings performed in our office:
I. Dental Prophylaxis
A dental prophylaxis is a routine teeth cleaning that is performed to prevent disease when the gums and bone around the teeth are considered healthy or to treat localized gingivitis. This type of cleaning is typically recommended every six months.
II. Scaling in the Presence of Generalized Moderate to Severe Gingivitis
This type of therapeutic cleaning is performed when generalized gum inflammation and bleeding is present, but in the absence of bone loss. It is recommended to follow up with a dental prophylaxis three months later in most cases.
III. Full Mouth Debridement
A debridement is a therapeutic type of cleaning that is performed if the amount of tartar build-up/ calculus on the teeth prevents comprehensive diagnosis. This sometimes requires numbing for your comfort. After a debridement, periodontal charting and diagnosis can be completed accurately to determine what follow-up care is needed.
IV. Scaling and Root Planing (Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy)
Scaling and root planing is a therapeutic type of cleaning that is indicated when there is active bacterial infection of the gum and bone surrounding the teeth, called periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is diagnosed based on the measurements of gum pockets around the teeth, evidence of bone loss on the radiographs, and presence of bleeding. This type of cleaning usually requires numbing of the gums and the use of special instruments to manually remove infection. When pockets are 6mm or less, we can recommend scaling and root planing as a non-surgical periodontal therapy in our office setting. In more severe cases, we may recommend partnering with a periodontist to help with treatment and management.
A periodontal re-evaluation 6 weeks after non-surgical periodontal therapy is recommended to confirm whether the treatment was successful on its own and periodontal maintenance is advised (see below), or if further treatment is necessary.
V. Periodontal Maintenance
After being diagnosed with periodontal disease and having initial scaling and root planing performed, individuals are placed on a periodontal maintenance cleaning schedule to monitor risk factors of disease and to prevent re-infection. Periodontal maintenance is typically performed in 3, 4, or 6 month intervals based on the individual’s needs.
Please review our Hygiene Philosophy for additional information.