You may think an office cleaning is mainly cosmetic \u2014 giving your teeth that polished look and you that pleasant, \u201csqueaky clean\u201d feeling. But your dental hygienist is doing more than making your teeth look great during your cleaning session \u2014 they\u2019re also providing a valuable service keeping your teeth and gums healthy.<\/p>\n
Here, then, are 3 things your dental hygienist is doing during a cleaning session that protects your health.<\/p>\n
Removing disease-causing plaque<\/em><\/strong>. An office cleaning produces more than a fresh and clean smile. Your hygienist is manually removing plaque and calculus (hardened plaque deposits) in hard to reach places or where it has built up despite your best efforts at brushing and flossing. This built-up plaque is a ready source of bacteria producing acids, which give rise to both tooth decay and gum disease. And for actual occurrences of the latter, plaque removal is an important part of the treatment to restore your gums to a healthy pink.<\/p>\n Checking for signs of dental disease<\/em><\/strong>. As your hygienist cleans your teeth, they\u2019re also looking for abnormalities in the mouth\u2019s soft tissue \u2014 lumps, bumps, sores, or swelling \u2014 that may indicate something more serious requiring further examination. They\u2019re also assessing your overall gum health, probing any areas that might indicate gum disease. And, of course, they\u2019re looking for cavities, softened enamel or other signs of tooth decay.<\/p>\n Helping you improve your oral hygiene<\/em><\/strong>. As proficient as they are, a dental hygienist can only do so much to help prevent dental disease; the rest \u2014 daily brushing and flossing \u2014 is on your shoulders. But you\u2019re not completely on your own, because your hygienist is your best personal hygiene training partner: not only can they assess how well you\u2019re doing in your daily regimen, but they can also give you expert advice and tips on improving your brushing and flossing performance.<\/p>\n If you would like more information on the role of your hygienist in your dental care, please contact us<\/a> or schedule an appointment<\/a> for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor<\/em> magazine article \u201cDental Hygiene Visit<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may think an office cleaning is mainly cosmetic \u2014 giving your teeth that polished look and you that pleasant, \u201csqueaky clean\u201d feeling. But your dental hygienist is doing more than making your teeth look great during your cleaning session \u2014 they\u2019re also providing a valuable service keeping your teeth and gums healthy. Here, then, … Continue Reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/demo.dpswebservices.com\/mangrovebaydentistry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}