Brushing and flossing at least twice per day, and minimizing sugar intake, are important steps when it comes to maintaining healthy teeth and gums. However, these practices cannot take the place of regular dental cleanings.
While brushing and flossing remove some plaque, bacteria, and tartar, dental cleanings are designed to clear away anything you’ve missed. Also, a fluoride application, part of many dental cleanings, helps keep teeth strong.
At Phinney Ridge Dental, we believe that each patient’s dental cleaning needs are unique, which is why we always customize our approach.
Let’s look at a few cleaning options.
The Prophy or Routine Cleaning
For patients with good dental habits—who keep routine dental appointments—the prophy is usually all that’s required. A prophy means removing tartar from the surfaces of your teeth, followed by a thorough but gentle polishing that leaves you with a sparkling smile!
Periodontal Treatment
If you have periodontal disease, you may require a different type of dental cleaning.
The symptoms of periodontal disease include:
- Gum or tooth pain
- Receding gums
- Bleeding gums
- Pocketing
- Tooth mobility
- Bad taste in the mouth or bad breath
Periodontal treatment is a cleaning designed to remove the signs of infection from your gums and teeth to optimize healing.
Periodontal dental cleanings remove tartar and bacteria below your gum line, also. Often we use an antibiotic application to promote healing.
Periodontal treatments usually call for follow-up care instructions and recommendations to ensure that infections go away and do not recur.
At our Seattle, WA dental office, we successfully treat periodontal disease all the time, and your dental cleanings are crucial when it comes to stopping disease progression.
Contact Us
It is recommended that you have dental cleanings twice per year. If you have not scheduled your cleaning, contact our dental office today. If you have signs of periodontal disease, don’t wait!