Professional dental cleanings and exams are important pillars of good oral health. Even patients who diligently follow their dentist’s brushing and flossing guidelines need to supplement their home care routines with regular office visits.
Patients should have their teeth cleaned and examined at least every six months. These semiannual cleanings, also referred to as prophylaxis, help to clear away any plaque and calculus, or tartar, that remain in the mouth despite regular brushing and flossing.
You may want to visit our office and see Dr. Maxey even more frequently, at three-or four-month intervals, if their teeth are prone to accumulating plaque unusually quickly.
Through professional cleanings that remove excess plaque and tartar, your dental hygienists are helping to reduce your risk of tooth decay and periodontal disease, both of which are caused by the bacteria found in plaque. As an added bonus, eliminating the unsightly plaque improves your smile’s appearance, too.
When you come to our office for a cleaning, Dr. Maxey will also thoroughly examine your mouth, including the teeth and soft oral tissues, looking for signs of issues like cavities, gum disease, and even oral cancer.
The six-month interval is important to the dental exam, too. In examining the teeth and other oral tissues every six months, your dentist is likely to spot small signs of potential problems before they become major issues.
Treatment may be more conservative if you identify and address dental concerns at earlier stages. For example, a cavity that is identified while it is still small can be corrected with a filling, but more advanced tooth decay might require a more complex restoration or even an extraction.
If it’s been more than six months since your last dental cleaning and exam, contact our office today to schedule an appointment to get back on track for good oral health.
From Our Blog:
Tips to Protect Tooth Enamel
Standing between oral bacteria and tooth decay is your tooth enamel. This mineralized coating that surrounds teeth acts as a barrier to destructive bacteria that cause cavities and weaken teeth. It’s important to understand dental anatomy to develop an understanding of how to protect tooth enamel (and your teeth) from damage. Tooth enamel is the strongest substance in your body; in fact, it’s harder than bone. Although enamel is tough and durable, it can be damaged by common habits and lifestyle choices. Exposure to acid and teeth grinding can weaken enamel. Following are some helpful tips for protecting the health of your teeth. Read More…
Regular Dental Visits Can Save You Money
Some patients may put off routine dental care out of financial concerns, but when you keep up with your regular appointments every six months, you actually may end up saving money by avoiding severe issues that require expensive treatments.
When your dentist sees you twice a year, it’s easier to keep tabs on any relatively minor changes and address them. For example, a patient may develop signs of early-stage gum disease from one visit to the next. This type of gum disease likely can be treated with a thorough professional cleaning, which is pretty affordable. However, if it progresses, it will require a more invasive – and expensive – intervention. Read More…
A Healthy Mouth is a Gateway to a Healthy Body
Whenever we feel ill, we don’t perform at our best. Regardless of where the ache or pain is, be it in our back, knee or hand, it can prevent us from fulfilling everyday tasks to its full potential. An old saying suggests a healthy body equals a healthy mind; any dentist will also say that to have a health body, the mouth must also be healthy!
Everyone does – or should, if they don’t already – brush their teeth regularly; dentists recommend at least twice a day, as well as daily flossing and twice yearly-checkups to spot and address any potential problems in our mouths. Brushing helps to keep teeth clean by removing plaque and bacteria from the surface of our teeth, while flossing ensures any food debris that can encourage the growth of bacteria is removed from areas of the teeth where brushing might not reach. Read More…