Dental cleaning Leawood Kansas City

What happens during a 6-month check up?

This appointment typically takes around 40-60 minutes. During your check-up, we will perform an oral cancer screening, take any necessary x-rays, clean your teeth above and below your gum line to get rid of any soft and hard deposits such as plaque and tartar, polish your teeth to remove any staining on the outside of your teeth, provide understandable oral hygiene instructions, and check for dental cavities or dental issues. Lastly, but most importantly, we will make sure all of your questions are answered so that you understand your oral health.

Why is it important to maintain your 6-month check up appointments? Great question!
Reason 1:
The foundation of your mouth. Have you ever wondered how your teeth stay in your mouth? They are held in place by your jawbone that has individual sockets for each tooth. Our gums cover up the bone as well as the roots of our teeth that anchor into the bone. Just like keeping the foundation of your house solidand sable, we need to keep the foundation of our mouth stable and healthy. There is a natural space between the teeth and gums where bacteria and plaque love to hide. We refer to this area as “pocket”. We measure the depth of the pocket using a special instrument called a dental probe.

Healthy pocket depth readings are between 0 –3mm, this is smaller than a grain of rice. Research shows that we can only brush or floss effectively about 1.5 mm into the pocket. So, evenwiththe best brushing, you simply cannot keep the entire pocket clean on your own. This is one of the reasons why it is important that you see your dentist every 6 months so that we can clean the rest of the pocket. By doing this, we can keep the bacteria and plaque down, which if we don’t can cause inflammation, also known as gingivitis. If we let the bacteria persist in that pocket longer than that, inflammation can lead to gum and bone loss around the tooth, known as periodontal disease.

Reason 2:
Your pearly whites. At Restore Dental, webelieve that prevention is the best medicine! Having your teeth checked for cavities or other dental issues every 6 months allows us to prevent issues and catch problems earlier

Reason 3:
Your mouth is connected to the rest of your body. Oral health is linked to whole body health. In fact, more than 90% of systemic diseases produce oral signs and symptoms. So don’t skip out on your 6-month dental check up; YOU are worth it!

Different types of cleanings

Adult prophylaxis

This is what we generally know as a “dental cleaning”. Your dental hygienist will assess the health of your teeth and gums. Then, with a combination of ultrasonic and hand instruments, he or she will remove plaque and hard plaque buildup, known as tartar or calculus. They will polish your teeth so they feel smooth and look brighter. Don’t hesitate to ask for nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”, it makes the experience more comfortable, especially for patients who are a bit anxious, have a strong gag reflex and for those who have sensitive teeth.

Periodontal Maintenance

For patients who have been diagnosed with periodontal disease, have ever had scaling and root planing or “deep cleaning”, a more frequent cleaning schedule, or “periodontal maintenance” is necessary. Research shows that it takes bacteria, in the mouth, 3 months to get to levels and populations that will start causing destruction of your gums and the bone around your teeth. Our goal is to keep bacteria and their byproducts down around your teeth so that we can keep disease and inflammation under control. Therefore, it is crucial to adhere to your 3-month cleaning schedule in order to “maintain” your bone level by disrupting the bacteria that live in areas you cannot access with your toothbrush or floss. Just like with other diseases such as diabetes, periodontal disease cannot be cured, only maintained. Performing good home care is a large part of maintaining your remaining bone.