All of us have heard and we ourselves know that we must visit a dentist every 6 months in order to avail a complete dental check up and a professional teeth cleaning. Professional cleaning of teeth is often called to as prophylaxis or prophy. It is a Greek term that means ‘to avert beforehand’- in this case, it aids to prevent periodontal disease (gum disease).
Unfortunately, most people in Los Angeles skip their appointments with a dental professional, as they do not know the consequences or importance.
For your information, flossing and brushing your teeth thrice a day only removes about 65% of bacteria and plaque that is on our teeth. Therefore, this means around 35% of bacteria and plaque is left on our mouth. Just imagine all the beverages and foods left on your teeth day by day! Not a good picture, right?
Furthermore researchers in Taiwan diagnosed 100,000 people with no history of heart ailments for an average of 7-years. They found out that the ones who had their mouth cleaned and scaled by a dentist at least twice a year had a 24% lesser risk for heart attack and 13% lesser risk for stroke as compared the ones who never visit a dental professional or visit only once in 2 years.
Why you should go for teeth cleaning after every 6 months?
Keeping Your Teeth Clean and Polished is More than Just Vanity, as it Might Just Save Your Life!
Dental cleaning includes removing plaque (sticky, soft, bacterial infested film) and tartar deposits that builds up on our teeth over time.
If the calculus (tartar) or scale is allowed to amass on the teeth, it would unfortunately render the right conditions for bacteria to survive next to the gums. The objective of polishing and cleaning teeth is primarily to leave the surfaces of teeth smooth and clean so that bacteria are incapable to stick to teeth and you possess a better chance of keeping the teeth and mouth clean during your everyday home care.
Importantly, keeping your teeth free from tartar and plaque would help prevent bacteria from accumulating on the walls of coronary and cerebral arteries and eventually, help avert heart diseases and strokes.
Professional Teeth Cleaning Helps:
1. To wipe off tartar and plaque
2. To prevent bad breath
3. To prevent heart disease and diabetes
4. To fight periodontal disease (gum disease)
5. To prevent oral cancer
How teeth cleanings are performed dentists?
A dental professional makes use of specialized instruments to gently wipe out the plaque without harming your teeth:
Ultrasonic Instrument: Dentist commonly use Ultrasonic instrument that uses tickling vibrations in order to knock off bigger pieces of tartar loose. It sprays a cooling mist of water while it operates to wash away debris and keep the teeth surface at a proper temperature.
Fine hand tools: Once the bigger pieces of tartar are gone, the dentist will switch to the finer hand tools, known as curettes and scalers, in order to wipe of smaller deposits and to smoothes the teeth surface.
Polishing: Once all tooth surfaces are smooth, the orthodontist will polish your teeth. Polishing is performed utilizing a slow-speed hand piece along with a soft rubber cup, which spins on the end.
Fluoride: Your dental professional may apply fluoride. This is the last and my favorite part of cleaning teeth.
Why favorite? Because fluoride comes in numerous different flavors like strawberry, watermelon, chocolate, mint, pina colada, cherry and can be combined with ice cream at a parlor for an excellent taste sensation!
Make no mistake, as this in-office fluoride treatment is meant only for topical use on the teeth surfaces. Fluoride is placed into little, flexible foam trays and placed on teeth for about 30 seconds.
Is Dental Cleaning Painful?
Most people report cleanings are painless, and find sensations like cooling mist of water etc do not cause any kind of discomfort. Rather a lot of people even claim that they enjoy teeth cleaning and the nice smooth feel of their teeth afterwards. People may experience odd zingy sensations, but most people do not mind since they last only a nanosecond.
