Do You Need a Deeper Dental Cleaning?
The standard recommendations for preventative dental care include regular dental cleanings from a dentist every six months. But this doesn’t mean that all patients can get away with this level of routine dental care. Some patients need more from their dentist to maintain their oral health.
Preventative dental cleanings are designed to help patients avoid disruptive issues like decay and gum disease. One of the most significant discoveries in recent dental research is the impact our gum health has on our overall health. Untreated gum disease has been linked to heart attack, stroke, premature birth and even some cancers. According to the CDC, more than 64 million adults in the U.S. are living with, or have had gum disease. If you consider these statistics, it means that over half the American population could benefit from more than just a routine prophylactic cleaning every six months. How do we “go deeper” in terms of cleaning your teeth?
What is a Deep Cleaning?
Technically, a regular cleaning is an above-the-gum surface cleaning of your smile and is indicated for patients who have no sign of infection or bone loss. However, if bleeding, swelling or redness is present within the gums, it may be a sign of early gum disease. This is an infection that needs to be treated on a “deeper” level. In doing so, your dentist may recommend a scaling and root planing treatment, otherwise known as a deep cleaning.
A deep cleaning is a more specialized cleaning procedure that can treat mild to moderate gum disease symptoms and prevent the infection from compromising your health. Using special handheld instruments and ultrasonic scalers, a dentist can remove bacteria, calculus (tartar) and debris that have accumulated under the gum line. Don’t worry; only one quadrant of your mouth is cleaned per visit, and the area is numbed with a local anesthetic first. Not only does a deep cleaning sanitize the deep pockets of gum tissue, but it also scales or smooths the roots of the teeth to encourage the gums to reattach.
Schedule Your Dental Cleaning in Elk Grove
Do you think your smile could benefit from a deeper dental cleaning? Call Laguna West Dental today to learn if you are a candidate.