Dental Cleanings
Vancouver, WA

No matter how busy your schedule gets, you should always make time for your bi-annual dental visit to get your teeth professionally scrubbed squeaky clean. You can be on top of your oral hygiene at all times, brushing your teeth twice daily, flossing regularly, and using good quality products, but you still cannot remove plaque altogether.

Yes, plaque is very easy to remove, but it also rebuilds very quickly and hides in crevices your brush may not be able to reach. Over time, it hardens, turns into calculus, and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, leading to multiple dental and oral health problems, including gum disease and tooth decay.

At Alder Dental, we offer professional dental cleaning services to help protect our client's oral health. Dental cleaning involves multiple steps that we discuss below in detail.

Dental Exam

The first step is to analyze your oral health and the current level of plaque buildup, if any. In the dental exam, your dental hygienist will use a mirror to peer into your mouth, examine your teeth' state, and check for signs of inflation in the gums. A hygienist only proceeds with the cleaning if they don't identify any significant problems. If there are signs of gum inflammation or gum disease, a thorough cleaning can cause a substantial amount of bleeding, further aggravating the condition.

Scaling and Root Planing

The second step is removing plaque from the teeth, the gums, and the crevices between the teeth. Plaque cleaning is the most crucial part of a dental cleaning, and one reason why regular dental cleaning is a must. If left un-cleaned for long, it can cause gum disease, leading to tooth decay and tooth loss.

Toothpaste Cleaning and Flossing

Don't be mistaken; professional toothpaste cleaning is nothing like that you do at home. Here, the professional uses a powerful electric brush and a strong toothpaste to scrub your teeth squeaky clean. You may even hear grinding noise when the hygienist moves the brush over your teeth.

However, there's no cause for alarm as that does not damage the teeth but removes all remnants of bacteria, plaque, and dirt. The hygienist will finish off this section by flossing in between your teeth to clean every inch.

Flouride Treatment

Fluoride is essential for the maintenance of dental health and hygiene. Where most toothpastes do contain fluoride, you need to get professional fluoride treatments to strengthen your teeth and protect them from cavities.

The dentist will first give you a fluoride rinse to get rid of all bacteria, debris, and plaque that may have fallen during the cleaning. They will then apply a fluoride treatment, foam or gel, over the teeth, and leave it on for a minute.

A fluoride treatment is usually the last step in the dental cleaning procedure, and the dentist may recommend that you avoid eating anything for at least an hour after the treatment to allow the fluoride to absorb in the teeth.

At Alder Dental, we offer professional dental cleaning and periodontal maintenance services to promote optimal dental and oral hygiene. Visit our clinic for a dental exam or visit our website for more information.

To learn more, give us Alder Dental a call at (360) 831-0831 today!