Dental Hygiene

Consistent care and cleanliness of your teeth and gums.

Dental hygiene is something we recommend you consider as part of your regular routine dental care. By doing this, you will be able to maintain good oral health and remove plaque and tartar build-up. Keeping the supporting tissues around your teeth in a healthy condition will increase the longevity of your natural teeth and implants and help in the fight against tooth loss.

Our dental hygienists are specifically trained to play an integral part in improving and maintaining our patient’s oral health. Their main work is to prevent and treat gum disease. Research shows that 80% of treatment success is down to daily oral hygiene routines, that’s why the most important role of our hygienists is to show you the best way to clean your teeth at home.

Seeing our hygienist on a regular basis will help improve and maintain your oral health. Patients with gum disease will need to be seen more regularly and will require deeper cleaning. Your hygienist or dentist will let you know if you need to be seen by a gum disease specialist (periodontist).

Periodontal Disease

Periodontal disease (Gum disease) is caused by failing to adequately remove plaque deposits from the teeth and gums, and is made worse by smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

Prevention of Periodontal Disease (Gum disease).

• Brushing twice daily with fluoridated toothpaste (1350ppm fluoride or above).
• Brushing last thing at night and on one other occasion.
• Spitting out after brushing and not rinsing.
• Remove plaque effectively using methods shown by the dental team.

Daily effective plaque removal is more important to periodontal health than scaling and polishing by the clinical team.

• Brush gum line AND each tooth twice daily (before bed and at least on one other occasion).
• Clean daily between the teeth to below the gum line before tooth brushing.
• For small spaces between the teeth: use dental floss or tape.
• For larger spaces: use interdental or single tufted brushes.
• Around orthodontic appliances, use kits suggested by your orthodontist.
• Do not smoke.
• Maintain good diabetes control.
• Be aware that some medications may affect gingival health.

Treatment

A standard dental hygiene method is scaling and polishing teeth using either hand or ultrasonic scalers and polishing brushes. This does not usually cause discomfort, but if that is the case, our hygienist will happily administer a local anaesthetic if you so wish. In addition to a professional clean of the teeth, hygienists perform these treatments to prevent and reverse gum disease in the early stages.

Our dental hygienist will teach you how to brush and floss appropriately during your appointment, in addition to making recommendations on how to keep your teeth healthy, including sticking to a healthy diet and cessation of dentally destructive lifestyle habits such as smoking and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

Preventing Gum Disease at Home

You can do a great deal to help yourself and the hygienist, as you are in control of your mouth between visits to the practice. Your hygienist will have shown you how to remove plaque with a toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.

You will also have been shown how to clean between your teeth with floss, tape or interdental brushes.

There are many oral care products now available including specialist toothpaste, powered toothbrushes and interdental brushes. Your hygienist will recommend those that are best for you.

We recommend you follow four simple steps to help keep your teeth and gums healthy:

• Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
• Clean in between your teeth once a day.
• Cut down on how often you have sugary snacks and drinks.
• Visit your dentist at least once a year.

Cutting down the amount of sugar in your diet and the number of times that you eat during the day can help to reduce decay. Your hygienist can help you by looking at your decay problem, your diet and by making some recommendations for you to consider.

Chewing sugar-free gum after meals can also help to prevent tooth decay. Chewing gum makes your mouth produce more saliva, which in turn cancels out the acid produced in your mouth after drinking and eating.