Meet Rebecca, Registered Dental Hygienist
Home care and regular professional dental cleanings are VERY important to maintain good oral health.
How often should you have your teeth cleaned? 2-4 times per year!
Six things a dental cleaning can do for you:
- Help prevent cavities: The whitish film that builds up on your teeth is called plaque and is the leading cause of tooth decay. This acidic substance eats away at the tooth enamel and if left unattended, can lead to cavities. Plaque can be removed by brushing, flossing and professional dental cleanings.
- Help stop tooth loss: Gum disease, which starts with built-up plaque, is a major cause of tooth loss in adults. As gum disease advances, plaque moves further down the tooth where it can destroy the supporting bone in your jaw, causing teeth to loosen and fall out. Luckily, the chance of this happening to you can be greatly reduced through regular dental cleanings combined with good oral hygiene habits.
- Brighten your smile: Drinking coffee, tea and wine or using tobacco can stain your teeth. A dental cleaning can remove built-up stains and leave you with freshly polished teeth. The result? A whiter, brighter smile!
- Freshen your breath: Good oral hygiene is the best way to prevent persistent bad breath. Even if you brush and floss regularly, getting a cleaning is a great way to keep your mouth healthy and odor-free.
- Boost your overall health: Studies have shown a connection between oral and overall health. Regular dental cleanings may help lower your risk for some diseases, like heart disease and stroke. Many medical conditions, some of them life-threatening, can be detected in their early stages by your dentist during a routine oral exam.
- Save money: Get the most value from your dental benefits. Most dental plans have low or no copayments/coinsurance for dental cleanings and oral exams. If you take advantage of your benefits now, you may be able to save money in the long run by helping to protect your oral health and potentially avoiding more costly and extensive procedures later.
Meet Katelyn, Registered Dental Hygienist
Did you know there are different types of professional dental cleanings?
Did you know pregnant women should get their teeth cleaned more often? Find out why!
Did you know most people don't know how to floss?
Electric or Manual Toothbrush? Floss or Waterpik?
Keep reading this page!
Why is gum treatment so important?
Dental cleanings while pregnant? Yes!
Why?
It's important you take good care of your teeth and gums while pregnant. Pregnancy causes hormonal changes that increase the risk of developing gum disease which, in turn, can affect the health of your developing baby. Here are some tips to help you maintain good oral health before, during, and after pregnancy.
Before You Get Pregnant
Try to make a dental appointment before getting pregnant. That way, your teeth can be professionally cleaned, gum tissue can be carefully examined, and any oral health problems can be treated in advance of your pregnancy.
Dental Care While Pregnant
- Tell us if you are pregnant. Routine dental care can be done any time during pregnancy. Any urgent procedure can be done, as well. All elective dental procedures, however, should be postponed until after the delivery. Before you have your dental appointment, check with your obstetrician to see if they have any special precautions/instructions for you.
- Give us a current list of any medications and prenatal vitamins you're taking as well as any specific medical advice your doctor has given you.
- Dental X-rays can be done during pregnancy, however we will most likely delay them unless it's vital to treatment. Note: We always use extreme caution to safeguard you and your baby, such as shielding your abdomen and thyroid. Advances in technology have made X-rays much safer today than in past decades.
- Don't skip your dental checkup appointment simply because you are pregnant. Now more than any other time, regular periodontal (gum) exams are very important, because pregnancy causes hormonal changes that put you at increased risk for periodontal disease and for tender gums that bleed easily – a condition called pregnancy gingivitis. Pay particular attention to any changes in your gums during pregnancy. If tenderness, bleeding or gum swelling occurs at any time during your pregnancy, call us as soon as possible.
- Follow good oral hygiene practices to prevent and/or reduce oral health problems.
Coping With Morning Sickness
- If morning sickness is keeping you from brushing your teeth, change to a bland-tasting toothpaste during pregnancy.
- Rinse your mouth out with water or a mouth rinse if you suffer from morning sickness and have bouts of frequent vomiting.
Eating Right for Your Teeth and Baby
- Avoid sugary snacks. Sweet cravings are common during pregnancy. However, keep in mind that the more frequently you snack, the greater the chance of developing tooth decay.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Your baby's first teeth begin to develop about three months into pregnancy. Healthy diets containing dairy products, cheese, and yogurt are a good source of these essential minerals and are good for baby's developing teeth, gums, and bones.
Home dental care is extremely important!
Most people don't know how to floss their teeth properly.
Wrapping the floss around each tooth and under the gum is important.
If your gums bleed when flossing, you probably need to change your dental care regimen a bit. That doesn't mean your mouth is unclean, or that you're cutting your gums, but it can mean you need to floss more often. It's fairly common for gums to bleed when you first begin flossing between teeth, and as long as the bleeding stops quickly, it's not usually considered a problem.
We advocate electric toothbrushes!
Electric toothbrushes are easier to use and
MUCH more effective than manual brushing.
- Using a regular manual toothbrush relies solely on the users ability to brush adequately. Manual standard toothbrushes are powered by the hand only. Electric toothbrushes do most of the work for you! Electric toothbrushes are less technique sensitive since you just move the brush from tooth to tooth.
- Electric toothbrushes are usually safer for your gums and teeth. When using a manual toothbrush, the user typically brushes too hard which can damage teeth and gums.
- Most electric toothbrushes come with a pressure sensor that alerts you if you are brushing too hard!.
- Sonic electric toothbrushes have high powered sonic vibrations can actually clean areas even further than what they are even touching. This is due to their extra fast sonic vibrations forcing saliva, water and toothpaste around harder to reach areas. Sonic vibrations have been shown to have an effect 5 mm past where the bristles are actually even touching!
- Electric toothbrushes flush and irrigate gum pockets better than a standard brush. This can result in healthier gums and teeth!
- Sonic electric vibrations can actually disrupt these bacterial colonies and kill off harmful bacteria!
- Electric toothbrushes are now more affordable than ever! Some electric toothbrushes still have a hefty price tag of close to $300 but now there are amazing options available that still have all the bells and whistles.
- Electric toothbrushes typically have a built in 2 minute timer. This ensures you are brushing the proper amount of time.
- Electric toothbrushes usually provide more motivation for the user to do a better job!
- Studies show that people using an electric toothbrush concentrate on their technique better which would lead to a more effective brushing session.
- Electric toothbrushes can encourage children to have better dental visits since they will already be used to a powered brush.
- Braces and other orthodontic appliances are much usually easier to clean with an electric toothbrush! They provide that extra power that is needed to maintain those appliances and brackets!
- Electric toothbrushes have less waste. You only replace the toothbrush head instead of the whole brush.
- Sonic brushes are also great for those who are handicapped with limited hand mobility or have arthritis. Since the toothbrush itself does all the work with the powerful sonic vibrations, you can save your hands the extra effort. This is great for the elderly and those with disabilities!
- Sonic vibrations are great for getting around and irrigating existing dental restorations, under bridges and around crown margins! So a sonic brush can help you keep your teeth and dental work protected!
- The electric toothbrush covers more surface area than a standard manual toothbrush can. More plaque/biofilm removal coverage typically equals less cavities and gum disease.
Which is better?
Arguably the 2 most popular methods right now are:
- Traditional dental floss
- Water flossers (Waterpik)
What is Dental Floss?
- Dental floss is string made of thin filaments. It has been used since 1818 to remove plaque and bits of food from hard-to-reach places. And in that time, it has evolved through different materials and shapes over time.
Dental floss is extremely effective but it can take some practice to master the technique.
What is a Water Flosser (Waterpik)?
- A water flosser is a device that allows you to shoot a stream of water at in-between your teeth in order to dislodge anything a toothbrush can’t reach. Including plaque.
- They have become extremely popular in recent years.
- Water flossers make use of a small tank of water that either sits on the countertop and is connected to the device by a cord. Or they may have a small tank of water attached to the device itself allowing for cordless use.
- All you have to do is lean over the sink and spray the water in between your teeth.
So, which is better?
Answer: either, or even better, both!
Ease of use
Thankfully over the years a large number of floss types have emerged allowing for any kind of tooth configuration making flossing easier to learn and do. Choosing the right type of floss for your mouth is important.
These types include:
- Unwaxed floss is thin nylon floss made of about 35 strands twisted together. It fits into tight spaces if your teeth are close together, but it can be prone to shredding or breaking.
- Waxed floss is a standard nylon floss with a light wax coating. It is less likely to break, but the wax coating may make it harder to use in tight spots.
- Dental tape is broader and flatter than standard floss and comes in waxed or unwaxed versions. People with more space between their teeth often find dental tape more comfortable to use than standard floss.
- Polytetrafluorethylene floss (PTFE) is the same material used in high-tech Gore-Tex fabric. The material slides between the teeth easily and is less likely to shred compared to standard floss.
- Super flosses are made from yarn-like material that has stiffer sections on each end that can be used to SPOT CLEAN around braces or dental bridges.
- Dental Implant floss has thicker sections that clean better around implants than traditional flossers.
Water flossing, on the other hand, is relatively simple.
- It’s used pretty much like an electric toothbrush. All you have to do is run it along your gum line and adjust the pressure according to what’s comfortable for you. However, additional time is needed around bridges, ortho brackets and implants.
Effectiveness
Both traditional dental floss and water flossers are considered to be extremely effective at cleaning plaque and food from between teeth and gums, and preventing gum disease such as gingivitis.
- The WATER FLOSSER is better at removing food and plaque from places dental floss can’t reach. For example: under and around braces, in certain spots under the gums that are too sensitive to rub with dental floss, and other hard to access areas.
- Dental FLOSS is overall more efficient at ‘spot cleaning’ plaque, as dental floss ‘wipes’ the plaque away whereas water flossers merely ‘rinse’ the area.