Regular dental checkups are your first line of oral health defense!
The three most important things you can do to prevent small dental issues from becoming, painful, expensive ones are having regular dental checkups and cleanings, brush your and floss your teeth at least several times a day. These three activities can go a long way to maintaining optimum dental health and oral hygiene! While you can brush and floss after every meal, a visit with your dentist begins with making an appointment! Of course if your don’t have a regular dentist, NOW Dental in Carmichael, is a family-friendly dentist focused on helping you maintain a healthy smile!
What happens during a typical dental checkup and cleaning?
Depending on your dentist, the first thing that happens is you are given a mouth rinse to swish around. Then the dental checkup and cleaning begins with an x-ray which gives your dentist an detailed view of your teeth and the jaw bone surrounding the roots of your teeth. This x-ray is really important because it is often the first warning of small cavities and abscesses that are not either creating pain or visible due to location. While dentists and dental hygienists are experts at spotting cavities and decay, an x-ray leaves no doubt. An x-ray can identify cavities under crowns or bridges. Yes, you can get a cavity on a tooth that has a crown or is supporting a bridge! Also, where there is an old cavity, there could be an issue with the root of the tooth, including an abscess! One thing for sure, it is better to identify and make a plan to deal with an abscess. Short of childbirth, it is said a “mad” tooth abscess is one of the more painful experiences a person can experience.
After a series of x-rays has been taken, your teeth get a deep cleaning. A dentist, or more likely, their dental hygienist, will start by measuring pockets in the gums around your teeth. Measuring pockets around your teeth and x-rays set (or reset), baselines that your dentist will use to create dental plans to maximize your oral hygiene. Periodontal pockets generally start due to plaque build-up, but there are other factors that can contribute to their development. Ideally periodontal pockets should be in the range of 1 to 3 mm. Periodontal pockets 4mm or deeper are a call to action since your teeth depend on healthy gums!
After all the probing of your gums, the cleaning begins! There may be a bunch of scraping to remove plaque. High powered jets of water and sharp implements scrape the teeth clean. Once the teeth have been scraped clean of plaque, they will be polished and then flossed. All the time, your mouth is getting rinsed and that water is being suctioned out. In most cases, the last thing that happens during the dental cleaning is a final rinse.
A chat with your dentist after a cleaning…
After your teeth are cleaned, dentist will come in and poke around in your mouth for a few minutes. Then he or she will sit down and discuss what needs to be done help maintain or remedy any issues detected by x-rays or during the cleaning. Typically you can expect to hear two things! “Brush your teeth and floss more often!” Heed your dentists advice because while a dental checkup and cleaning can help maintain your teeth and identify issues, brushing and flossing are inexpensive things you can do to prevent many dental issues!
If you do not have a dentist and live in Sacramento, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, or even Roseville or Folsom, call Now Dental! Not only are we family-friendly, but we are passionate dental care providers. It is important to us that small dental issues do not become expensive and painful ones. If you have dental insurance, we can help you make the best use of your plan. If you don’t have dental insurance, we can help you apply for specialized credit financing specifically designed for dental care. If you are paying for dental care out of pocket, call us, we will work with you honestly and transparently.