With more teeth lost through gum disease rather than tooth decay, regular dental hygienist treatments are essential for healthy gums and teeth. Regular hygienist visits combined with dental checkups and good home-care will greatly improve the appearance of your teeth and your oral health.
Hygienists offer a professional teeth cleaning service called “scaling and polishing”. During the appointment your hygienist will carry out an initial dental hygiene assessment and will
- Scale your teeth; that is, remove any plaque or tartar build-up over and in between your teeth
- Perform a clean and polish to remove any superficial stains on your teeth
- Give tailored advice on how to care for your teeth and gums properly at home
- Offer advice about diet and how to prevent tooth decay
- Diagnose the presence of gum disease – and, if present we will refer you to an in-house dentist or a specialist periodontist for further treatment
The frequency of hygienist visits will be determined by your clinical needs or your own desire to have your teeth cleaned and polished regularly.
Dentists usually require patients to be seen by the hygienist before commencing treatment, especially for larger fillings, crowns or dental implants.
Many people believe they know how to brush their teeth well, but often miss out on key steps they are reducing how well they can protect against gum disease and tooth decay.
Benefits of seeing the hygienist on a regular basis :
- Hygienists can help maintain brighter, whiter teeth for longer
- Scaling and polishing keeps your mouth will feel fresher for longer – often eliminating bad breath
- Hidden and difficult-to-reach plaque and tartar** is removed from your teeth which in turn will improve the health of your teeth and gums
- Regular visits can reduce the incidence of gum disease provided good oral hygiene at home is also followed
- With an additional AIR FLOW treatment alongside scale and polish, ingrained surface stains can be lifted giving you a smile you will be proud of
- Your hygienist provides advice on diet and how to care for your teeth and gums properly at home
** Tartar is the hardened layer of bacterial plaque which, if left untreated, will cause bleeding, swelling (gingivitis) and an established infection of the gums. Loss of the supporting bone (that holds teeth in place) is then followed by tooth loss – one of the effects of gum disease.
At Dental Wellbeing, our professional hygienist offers clinical services including
- Scale and polish treatments to remove plaque and tartar
- AIR-FLOW therapy which gently removes stubborn superficial stains
In most cases Extra clean treatment can make the teeth appear whiter and brighter.
- Our Professional hygienist offers clinical services and advice to help keep gums healthy
- The hygienist can carry out Professional Teeth Whitening provided you undergo a clinical checkup with one of our dentists; this is because carrying out teeth whitening on patients with dental disease can cause harm and not all patients are suitable for teeth whitening
- The hygienist gives personalised dental maintenance advice including correct oral hygiene instruction, which together with regular oral hygiene treatment will help maintain a healthy mouth, fresher breath and a brighter smile.
It should be noted that the hygienist role is also to diagnose and assess the level of damaging gum disease (“periodontal disease”) that may be present. The extent of gum disease at this level would not have arisen within a few months and therefore referral in-house for dentist intervention or referral elsewhere to a Periodontal Specialist would be one of the two options available.
