A common misconception is that dental cleanings are a long, painful, and uncomfortable procedure. That’s not the case at all! Dental cleanings are a necessary part of maintaining proper health and they rarely take more than an hour. That’s why we prepared this simple guide to dental cleanings to ensure you know exactly what to expect!
What is a Dental Cleaning?
Dental hygiene involves keeping teeth clean, brushing 2-3 times a day with a toothpaste, flossing regularly, eating healthy food and visiting the dentist every six months for checkup. What a lot of people skip though, is their routine dental visits for proper cleaning! Dental cleaning is a process that helps clean teeth and remove plaque and tartar. It’s a screening process that allows dentists to take a closer look at your teeth, gums, mouth and tongue. The cleaning process is often the scary part for people who are new to this process, but there’s nothing to be concerned about! Let’s talk about what happens during a dental cleaning in our guide to dental cleanings.
What Happens During a Dental Cleaning?
The process for dental cleanings is fairly routine and consistent. You should see your dentist once/year for a deep cleaning and to check for any signs of illnesses or concerns within your mouth. This guide to dental cleanings is meant to prepare you for that day so very little is up to chance, so let’s get into it.
Typically, the first thing that occurs is a dental assistant will sit you in a chair and move you up or down. They will then position the light to be over your mouth and begin the cleaning process. This involves using a small scraping tool that is not too sharp to go over each individual tooth and remove tartar and plaque buildup. They will go along your gum line on both side of your teeth.
Then, they will use a small electric toothbrush to go over each tooth. This is usually a mint toothpaste, but sometimes you get a choice to switch to a bubble gum or even a berry flavor! They will have you rinse/spit a few times throughout this process before moving on to flossing between each tooth. After that, you rinse again and await the dentist!
When the dentist comes in, they usually take a closer look at your mouth and determine if there are any abnormalities or concerns and discuss the next steps with them.
How Often Should You Get a Dental Cleaning?
It wouldn’t be a good guide to dental cleanings if we didn’t also tell you how often you should have your teeth cleaned. Dental health is an essential component of one’s overall health. Maintaining good dental hygiene can be difficult and time consuming, but it is necessary to avoid tooth decay, gum disease, and other more serious conditions. The frequency of dental cleanings and brushing teeth depends on a person’s dental hygiene practices and the type of toothbrush they use, but usually 1-2x per year is enough.
Conclusion
Do you feel a little more secure after reading through our quick guide to dental cleanings? We hope so! The process is simple, usually takes no more than 45 minutes to an hour and is ideal for preventing any future oral complications. Make sure you schedule a visit with your local dentist at The Smile Artisan today to get those teeth cleaned!