New Patient FormDental cleanings by your local dental hygienist are crucial. Dental patients who live in Silver Spring, MD should visit their dentist at least twice a year for their regular checkup; at which time, a dental cleaning will be done by their hygienist. Regular checkups with a thorough dental cleaning will help you keep your teeth cleaner and last longer. Cleanings prevent major problems like gum disease from developing.
Professional teeth cleaning by a certified dental hygienist in Silver Spring, MD aims to remove plaque, tartar, and stains that have formed on your teeth. Even if you have a steady routine of brushing and flossing your teeth and gums, tartar can still develop on your teeth. Most Silver Spring, MD dentists recommend a professional cleaning at least twice a year to prevent gum disease or reduce the disease from progressing. Routine dental cleanings and a good practice at home of brushing and flossing are crucial to prevent excessive tartar build-up and gum disease.
Plaque is a sticky, soft film which contains bacteria. This bacteria is what causes gum disease and tooth decay if you do not remove it by brushing and flossing daily and visit your dentist in Silver Spring, MD twice a year for a dental cleaning and checkup. Tarter is a hard calcified deposit which forms on the teeth and contributes to tooth decay.
Your Silver Spring, MD dental hygienist uses specialized instruments to gently scrape along and below the gum line to remove these deposits. These dental instruments are sterilized after each use so they can be used on other dental patients as well. A dental mirror will be used during your dental cleaning so that your Silver Spring, MD dental hygienist, and your dentist can inspect the hard-to-see areas of your mouth.
An ultrasonic instrument is a device also used for dental cleanings at dental offices in Silver Spring, MD. This instrument uses mild vibrations to loosen larger pieces of tar. It also sprays mists of cool water to wash the loosened debris away. Once the larger areas of tartar are removed, your hygienist will use curettes for scaling your teeth to get rid of smaller deposits and smooth the tooth surface. Each tooth will be scaled.
Once that is finished, your teeth will be polished with a handpiece that contains a soft rubber cup and spins. A gritty toothpaste solution is put into the cup and spins at the tip creating a smooth, shiny surface on your teeth. Your teeth will then be flossed. In addition, as part of your dental cleaning in Silver Spring, MD you may have a fluoride treatment where a flexible foam tray with fluoride is placed over your teeth for 30 seconds, and then you spit the rest into a saliva ejector.
Your regular dental cleanings along with your routine cleaning at home in Silver Spring, MD will increase your chases of maintaining good oral health.