Many people wonder why they need to visit a dentist. The truth is that lacking dental exams and cleanings in Brighton, ON may affect your oral health. At Brighton Family Dentistry, routine teeth cleaning and exams reduce your risk of developing gum disease through cavity prevention. Our dentists advise that you should visit your dental care practitioner after every six months for optimal oral health.

What Happens During a Dental Visit?

A dental visit involves two parts: the checkup, or a dental examination, and the teeth cleaning, also called oral prophylaxis.

During the dental checkup, your dentist evaluates your mouth for cavities and other problems. For this, they utilize x-rays. They also check for plaque and tartar lodge in the teeth. Plaque refers to a sticky clear bacterial layer that hardens and becomes tartar if not removed. You can remove plaque through brushing and flossing, but not tarter. Accumulated tartar increases your risk of developing oral diseases.

Next, during the tooth cleaning exam, your dentist checks the teeth and gums. They use a unique dental tool to measure the depth of the space between your teeth and gums. Healthy gums have shallow spaces, but those with gum disease exhibit deeper spaces.

Your tongue is also carefully examined, along with other soft tissues. Your dentist will evaluate your face, head, throat, and neck. For these, they search for various trouble signs, including swelling, redness, and possible cancer signs.

Your exam will also involve teeth cleaning. While it’s possible to extradite plaque from your teeth through routine brushing and flossing, you cannot remove tartar. During cleaning, your dental professional performs the scaling process using special scaling tools.

After scaling the teeth, your dentist may further polish them. Frequently, they use a gritty paste to help remove any surface teeth stains. The final step is dental flossing, where your professional will clean in-between your teeth using dental floss.

Importance of Dental Exams

For a new patient exam dental checkup, the dentist diagnoses for the signs of tooth decay and dental caries. These are problems that affect the tooth pulp – the living part of the tooth containing nerve endings and blood vessels – and spread to the roots and beyond.

A warning sign of decay is accumulated plaque and tartar. This also causes gum disease. However, dental checkups have many more advantages than just checking for decay and cavities. Your dentist checks for other issues, including:

• Oral cancer. Most throat and mouth cancers are diagnosed by dentists done in routine checkups. The cancer survival rate is excellent if you can detect the disease early enough.
• Gum disease. A mouth with deep spaces between the teeth and gums suggests gum disease, also called periodontitis. This is the number one cause of tooth loss. Studies show that almost 70% of people will suffer the periodontal disease at least once in their lifetime.
• Multiple medical conditions. Your dentist also checks if you have bad breath. Halitosis is caused by several issues, including a mouth yeast infection, lung disorders, and diabetes.

Importance of Dental Cleanings

Professional teeth cleanings (dental prophylaxis) eliminate bacterial buildup and effectively removeplaque and tartar, which remains persistent even with constant brushing and flossing.

Your dentist uses special tools to extradite built-up plaque during teeth cleaning exams. If the plaque has hardened to tartar, only a dental professional can remove it.

Dental cleaning also involves professional flossing between the teeth and polishing the teeth to eradicate stains so your mouth remains extra fresh.

Dental cleanings also involve the scaling process, which removes tartar buildup to reduce your likelihood of developing gum disease and losing teeth.

Professional tooth cleanings help prevent cavity formation while giving you the fresh breath and the sparkling smile you always desire.

Finally, research has established a close link between good oral health and overall wellbeing improvement. Dental cleaning enhances your overall wellbeing by reassuring you that you are not at risk of oral cancer, lung infections, heart disorders, and diabetes.

Take Full Advantage of Dental Exams and Cleanings

For maximum benefits from dental exams and dental cleanings in Brighton, ON, it’s essential to maintain a crisp oral healthcare routine at home. This is because of the persistence of the development of disease-causing bacteria even after a professional cleaning. Therefore, you should:

• Brush twice daily using fluoride toothpaste
• Floss daily
• Use fluoride mouthwash
• Maintain a healthy and balanced diet while limiting snacks
• Avoid smoking and any tobacco use
• Check with the dentist regularly for professional exams and dental cleanings