A Short Overview of Dental Teeth Cleaning

Even the most ardent of 'teeth brushers and flossers', if you can call them that, have a tough time keeping plaque at bay. Regular brushing and flossing can drastically reduce the buildup of plaque on your teeth but it cannot keep you completely free of it. In addition to maintaining oral hygiene practices at home, a periodic professional teeth cleaning will make sure your teeth stay in good shape.

The initial yellow stains you notice on your teeth are the first signs of plaque. Plaque is caused by deposits of food particles which, if not brushed away properly, leads to tartar. Over a period of time the increasing levels of plaque react with the saliva in your mouth to form tartar. So all you need to do to halt its progression is to brush and floss thoroughly after every meal.

Once tartar takes hold, it is a small step to gingivitis, which is an inflammation of the gums. Even this can be treated, to a large extent, without much discomfort or pain by a dentist. However, if you leave gingivitis untreated you are begging for periodontal disease, which is something you don't want to do!

Periodontal disease can cause loss of bone that supports your teeth and subsequently the loss of the tooth itself. It is, therefore, very important that you know that the health of your teeth rests in your hands. If you follow good dental hygiene and keep a close watch on your teeth, chances are you will need dental cleaning only once or twice a year.

Dental teeth cleaning has made huge strides in the past few years and the procedure can be completed in just one sitting. Dentists prefer the use of ultrasonic cleaning equipment, which speeds up the process and does a better job than most hand instruments. This equipment cleans not just your teeth, but also the areas beneath the gum line, and between teeth.

It produces very gentle ultrasonic vibrations at high speed. Normally, you will not need even a local anaesthetic as it is a painless procedure. If there is some level of gum damage then your dentist may give you a shot to numb the area.

Once the initial cleaning is done, a rotary machine is used with the application of a little toothpaste. This attempts to remove the plaque that may still remain under the gums. It also polishes the outer tooth thoroughly to retard future buildup of plaque. Then your dentist would floss between the teeth to remove any hard to reach plaque.

So dental teeth cleaning is effectively a combination of ultrasonic cleaning, rotary brushing, and flossing. You will be able to see immediate results on completion of the cleaning. There are no side-effects to getting your teeth cleaned. The only thing that could happen is loosening of your crowns or fillings, which is rare and the only reason that can happen is if your fillings are already weak.

Let your dentist be the best judge of when you will need professional cleaning. Getting your teeth cleaned professionally once in a while can only be good for your teeth.
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Author's Note

ignore grammar problems