Healthy Teeth
Regular checks and cleans are important to your overall health
Dental hygiene is important, actually very important to your overall health. That’s what you mostly hear or read about this issue, in the following lines I’m going to explore this into a detailed level.
Why do I need regular checks and cleans?
To avoid ugly, costly surprises, if you know early about a problem you will have options time to think, take opinions, select treatment. While in emergencies, getting out of pain is the major player. Even dealing with any problem in an early stage is more successful and predictable, and also could save much money and time.
Can problems be even prevented?
Yes, keeping your regular cleans and maintenance visits can of course stop problems even before they start, by sometimes only adjusting the way you brush.
Is fluoride effective?
Its an evidence based fact, regular application of fluoride and fluoride intake in drinking water has a positive effect on making teeth more decay resistant.
Why do I have to be X-rayed?
X rays is a valuable tool in examining and screening teeth and surrounding attachments here are the 2 most used screening Xrays
1- Bitewings:
In normal cases you need to have right and left Bite-wing x-rays once every two years, they can see in between your teeth, detecting any early proximal decay which is the worst types of decay in my opinion, its invisible, painless until it’s too deep, it reaches the nerve chamber in few months. If detected early it could be stopped, reversed without even a filling.
2 – OPGs:
A panoramic view that shows in one exposure the whole set of teeth, jawbones, joints, sinuses. It shows areas beyond the reach of small X-rays, like presence of impacted wisdom teeth even before they start any damage. It is recommended to have your OPG record updated every 3 years .
Is it safe to take that much of X-rays?
We use most recent digital radiography now, so instead of conventional chemical films, X-ray image is received on highly sensitive electronic or phosphorous sensors, they need extremely low dose to produce an image , which is digitally enhanced to meet our needs.
Nevertheless we are still committed in our practice to use aiming devices and lead aprons if required to ensure your safety.
What is the scale and clean?
With the fast pace of life and introduction of soft processed foods its becoming easier and faster to eat than to clean. The gums gets contaminated with plaque which could and should be controlled by day to day brushing, but some plaque spots get calcified in an attempt of bacteria to protect themselves against removal forming Calculus, brushing is not effective against calculus , it has to be professionally removed by hand instruments or a light touch of ultrasonic tips. The longer calculus is left in place the stronger it gets and it starts with time to damage deeper tissues around your teeth, gum bleeding, pockets, bad smell, and eventually teeth mobility and aches are very common consequences of ignoring these buildups. Its slow, but its there.