Hygiene/Periodontal
Whether you have healthy gums or are in a state of active periodontal disease, routine home maintenance, although somewhat effective, only focuses on those areas of the tooth that are above the gum line.
It is only through regular scaling and root planing procedures that remove plaque, tartar and bacterial toxins from those hard-to-reach areas below the gum line that we are able to keep your gums and teeth healthy from top to bottom!
That is why at West Campus Dental we recommend visits twice yearly for maintenance/preventative care unless your oral health status dictates that you require visits on a more frequent schedule.
What Is Tooth Decay?
Depending on your preventative treatment schedule, your visits may include:
- taking x-rays to check bone levels (a good indicator of chronic gum and bone disease)
- measuring the depth of periodontal (gum) pockets
- checking for loose teeth or bleeding gums
- removing plaque or tartar above and below the gum line
- reviewing your dental home care techniques and their resulting effectiveness
- oral cancer screening as well as checking the surrounding hard and soft tissues of the head and neck
About Periodontal Disease
Regular periodontal and preventative maintenance visits help us break the pattern of bacterial damage that may be taking place in your gums and slow or eliminate its destructive effects. As such, removal of plaque and tartar is crucial to treating gingivitis (gum inflammation) as well as controlling periodontal disease and preventing tooth decay. How do we accomplish this?
In many instances, we use an ultrasonic scaler
An ultrasonic scaler consists of a wand with a small scaling tip that produces soft ultrasonic vibrations and a gentle flow of water. As the tip moves along the tooth surface, it creates small pulses that break up plaque, tartar and other debris.
Benefits of Scaling
The benefits of ultrasonic scaling
Ultrasonic scaling has proven to be very effective in removing heavy or firmly attached deposits below the gum line in a very quick and efficient manner. Because of this, appointment times are shortened and patient comfort is improved. However, to ensure complete care, hand scaling is still always completed afterwards and, in most instances, is followed up by polishing the teeth to ensure that they are as smooth as possible.