Dental Cleanings

Routine dental cleanings are important to maintaining good oral hygiene. Professional cleaning by a hygienist can remove mineralized plaque that may develop even with careful brushing and flossing, particularly in areas that are difficult to reach. It is recommended you go in for a cleaning once every six months, but some patients may require more frequent visits to manager a state of oral health.

How it's done
You can expect your dental cleaning to last between 45 minutes and an hour for adults and 30 minutes for children. Our trained hygienist, Beth, will do the cleaning, and Dr. Rhodes may come in for an exam at the end. Most people find that dental cleanings are painless, and do not cause any discomfort.

Your appointment will begin with the hygienst updating your medical records and medications.  It is important for your oral health care staff to know your current medications due to the fact that many have oral side effects or need to be considered during certain procedures that may require local anesthesia.  Your blood pressure is taken, your concerns noted, and any required x-rays taken at this time.  In addition, a visual oral cancer exam is done at each hygiene appointment.  Once a year your hygienist will also update your periodontal readings, which measure the health of the bone structure surrounding your teeth.

There are two important steps to a dental cleaning. The first step is scaling the teeth, whereby the hygienist will remove the plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces. This can be performed by hand or with electric scalers depending on the hygienists preference.Typically, the hygienist will also dig into the pockets of the gums to remove any plaque buildup there.

The second step is polishing to remove any final plaque and buff the teeth. Polishers generally have several different sized heads to clean hard to reach places.   During and after the appointment your hygienst will spend time providing oral health education and possibly recommending oral health products to improve your smile.