What happens in the Chair during your checkup and clean?

You’ve always wanted to know, right?

Pretty much everyone knows how important it is to have a routine dental checkup and clean.  And if you don’t know it yet, you certainly will after you read this blog.

Your regular dental clean has one primary goal: for us to get rid of all your plaque and tartar deposits.

Regardless of how thorough your home oral hygiene is, a regular checkup also give us an opportunity to examine your teeth and detect gum disease, inflammation, look for any holes in your teeth, or detect other more rare nasties like oral cancer.

Having your teeth cleaned every six months also helps keep bad breath at bay. And no one in their right mind wants bad breath.

So What Happens During Your Clean?

A professional teeth cleaning is way more thorough than what you do at home.

While daily brushing and flossing are great, it’s very difficult for you to reach plaque that is hiding between the teeth and along the gum line.

In the clinic, we use special tools to remove sticky plaque and hard tartar deposits from the surfaces of your teeth above your gums. And only a professional dentist In Taree will be able to remove plaque that has hardened into tartar.

And after we’ve removed stubborn plaque and tartar, we polish your teeth enamel with a gentle abrasive paste.

Polishing the tooth makes it more difficult for plaque to accumulate before the next cleaning. It also helps your teeth feel clean and healthy. And it can remove surface stains so your smile shines a little brighter.

During this process we will  squirt some water into your mouth and ask you to swish.  The rinsing stage helps remove any residual tooth polish.

Finally we will floss your teeth. This will remove any plaque that could be lurking between teeth.  It also lets us know where gum bleeding occurs.

Last but not least, we apply a fluoride treatment to your teeth. This can protect your teeth from decay for months.

How Long Does a Checkup and Clean Take?

A teeth clean can last between 30 minutes and one hour. During this time, you will lie back in a comfortable dental chair while we examine your teeth.

Remember at Taree Dental Care we have Netflix to keep you, or your kids, distracted.  We know cleans can be a bit uncomfortable at times, so we try to be as gentle as we can.

The Examination

Once your teeth are all nice and clean, we conduct an examination.

In the past, dentists always used a metal probe and angled mirror – but now we use many different types of equipment to give your mouth the big once over.

We are looking for any signs of tooth decay and check for other issues with your gums like deep pockets, redness, or inflammation.

We look for any issue, big or small.  Remember your mouth is the window to your overall health. Oral hygiene and a healthy mouth is very important.

Your appointment may take longer if we need to take X-rays or if we need to discuss options for treatment for something that needs attention.

It’s also a good time to ask us about areas of your mouth where your brushing and flossing routines might need a bit of help.

There are some common spots a lot of people miss when brushing their teeth so feel free to ask us where yours are.

We are here to help you keep your teeth in the best possible shape as you get older.  It’s sooooo true that a regular dental checkup and clean is just as important as an annual health check with your Doctor.

So now that you know what is involved, don’t let the year slip by without giving your mouth some love. Give us a call at Taree Dental Care for your appointment today.