Understanding Dental Cleanings at Hillcrest Dental
The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends visiting your dentist at least once every six months for a routine dental checkup and teeth cleaning. However, the frequency of your visits may vary based on your individual oral health needs. Some individuals may require more frequent checkups, while others can maintain their oral health with biannual visits.
What are the different types of dental cleanings?
We have your standard basic cleaning called a dental prophy or prophylaxis. These are for patients who don't have any gum disease present. That's the most baseline level of cleaning.
Another type is called gum infection therapy or scaling and root planing. For patients who don't qualify for a regular cleaning—patients who have gum disease present, where there's infection in their gums, bone loss, gum disease—they would receive gum infection therapy. Once they've had that done, from thereafter, for the rest of their life, they're going to be getting something called periodontal maintenance.
Periodontal maintenance would be the next level of cleaning, and this is for patients who've had their gum infection therapy. They're usually seen every three months for their periodontal maintenance cleanings. It's different from a prophy; there's a deeper level of cleaning and evaluations to ensure your periodontal disease is being maintained and controlled.
Another type of cleaning, which is a more recent development, is called scaling in the presence of gum inflammation. If your gums are swollen, bleeding, and red, but you haven't lost bone yet and are just starting that process, we could do scaling in the presence of inflammation. That would be the final part of a dental cleaning.
What is the importance of a dental cleaning?
Dental cleanings are extremely important for a few reasons. Firstly, simply getting the cleaning done allows us to access areas that you're not able to clean at home. We can get under the gum line to remove infection and tartar, doing things that unfortunately can't be done at home. Home maintenance is extremely important as well. What you do at home makes a big difference regarding what is needed from us.
It's crucial to maintain that because gum disease, once you get it, is not curable. We can control and treat it with cleanings, but we can't cure it. Gum disease has huge effects on your heart, brain, liver, and many other medical problems. We're finding more and more links between gum health and overall health. It's important for your overall health to prevent other medical conditions that are linked to gum disease, such as certain cancers, diabetes, stroke, and reproductive issues.
Getting your mouth treated is very important to maintain your overall and dental health. It's essential to have a cleaning done at least every six months. If you've had a history of periodontal disease and are getting periodontal maintenance cleanings, those typically need to be done every three or four months. At the very minimum, once every six months is the standard for how often you should get a professional cleaning.
Are dental cleanings painful?
A dental cleaning should not be painful. If your hygienist is great, which all of our hygienists are fantastic at Hillcrest Dental, we're thorough but gentle. If we need to do gum infection therapy, we use anesthesia and a very high-strength topical numbing jelly. We also sometimes use the jelly before injections to numb you with local anesthetics.
We offer sedation with laughing gas, oral sedation, and other options if you're anxious or nervous to help you feel more comfortable during the process. Typically, your dental cleaning appointment will be about an hour. This includes taking X-rays and photos if needed, measuring your gums, and doing your evaluation and examination by the doctor, with the majority of the time spent on the actual cleaning itself.
We don't rush through it or cut these appointments short. Unfortunately, some offices schedule two or three appointments at the same time for hygienists, causing them to rush. We schedule you for a full hour if you're a returning patient and about an hour and a half to two hours if you're a new patient for the examination, checkup, and cleaning.
What will happen during my dental cleaning?
During a cleaning, you'll come into the office and be greeted by a friendly and warm front office team. We have a relaxing and comfortable reception area with coffee and water available. Then, we will bring you back to get necessary radiographic images and X-rays. We have a comfort menu offering a pillow, TV on the ceilings or walls, Netflix, and other amenities. We offer a blanket as well if you need it. We also provide sedation options like laughing gas for those who need it.
You'll be greeted by a friendly, competent, and warm hygienist team. They will conduct your gum examination if you're due for it, which is at least once a year or for all new patients getting a full exam. They will take images, educate you thoroughly on what they're seeing, and perform your cleaning. The doctor will come in for the examination if you're due for it or if you're a new patient, to go over their findings with you.
Then, you'll be on your way and we'll see you back in three months if you're on a three-month schedule, or in six months. Dental hygienists should be able to remove all the tartar during a cleaning. If they're doing gum infection therapy, we will schedule the appropriate amount of time, which could be an hour for half the mouth or an hour for the full mouth if you're just getting a basic prophy, a regular dental cleaning.
Depending on what type of cleaning you need, we usually complete it in one visit. Sometimes we have to break it up into two or more visits. We'll ensure a thorough job to remove all tartar and bacteria. If we didn't get everything, we can definitely bring you back in for another round to ensure everything is taken care of. We're committed to being thorough and doing a fantastic job.
Can dental cleanings damage your teeth?
Dental cleanings should not damage your teeth. If you're treated by a highly trained hygienist or dentist using the correct tools for the job, the process might feel intensive, and you might hear noises, but there should be no damage to the actual teeth or gums. Absolutely not. Great question.
Why is there sensitivity after a dental cleaning?
Sensitivity after a dental cleaning is common because we're disrupting the layer of germs and byproducts that have adhered to your teeth. This can often mask sensitivity, and when we disrupt that bacteria, your teeth can become sensitive. It's not usually an issue, but on rare occasions, patients notice increased sensitivity after a cleaning. It's very normal and very common.
We highly recommend using toothpaste specifically for sensitivity, such as Sensodyne, which works well. We can also apply fluoride to the teeth, and we offer anti-sensitivity products that we can apply professionally. These products typically last for about a year, depending on which product is used. Even if you haven't had a cleaning but your teeth are just sensitive in general, we can apply these products. Please come into the office if you would like to learn more about that.
Your dental health matters to us, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. If you’re looking for expert dental care near Las Vegas, NV, call (702) 707-6895 or email [email protected] to learn more. Ready to get started? Schedule your appointment below.