Cleaning your teeth regularly keeps tooth decay and gum disease at bay. And sometimes, you might need a little professional help from a dental hygienist. A dental cleaning once every six months can bolster your oral hygiene process and keep your gums and teeth healthy and looking good.
But if you haven't been for a dental cleaning in over six months, consider doing so soon. The following signs indicate that you could benefit from a dental cleaning as soon as possible.
Tartar usually builds up just above the gum line. This chalky, yellow matter comprises minerals like calcium, dead bacteria, and food debris. If you see tartar on your teeth, then you need a dental cleaning to remove it. Tartar is unattractive, but more than that, it is very bad for your teeth and gums.
A layer of tartar on your teeth can cause various problems like:
A dental hygienist can scrape away tartar to prevent these issues from occurring.
After you brush your teeth in the morning a healthy bio film forms on the surface of your teeth. This bio film helps to protect your teeth from dental erosion. Early on in the day, this film contains good bacteria - the kind that doesn't cause bad breath or tooth decay. But as the day wears on, bad bacteria take over this film and turn it into plaque, which is a smelly, sticky substance.
The next stage of plaque is tartar. If you have noticed that you tend to have more plaque than usual these days, this means you also have more bacteria than usual. This could be due to your diet, overall health, or oral habits.
Not only can a dental hygienist clean plaque from your teeth but they can also advise you on how to keep plaque at bay. They may offer you oral hygiene suggestions and suggest tweaks to your diet that could reduce oral bacteria.
Plaque and tartar can leave your mouth smelling rather stinky. This can become a problem if you deal with people all day long, or your partner has begun to complain.
A dental cleaning can remove tartar and plaque from your teeth. This will improve your breath, but you then need to ensure that you clean your teeth regularly. Your oral hygienist can give you some tips on how to avoid plaque and tartar buildup on teeth.
If your notice that your gums are swollen and that they bleed after you brush, then you may be seeing the beginning of gum disease. Plaque, tartar, and bad oral bacteria cause gum disease; they irritate your gums and cause them to become inflamed. You need to deal with this problem quickly, before the disease damages your gums and causes them to recede.
A dental cleaning can stop gum disease in its tracks.
Sensitive teeth could indicate dental erosion, which is the stage that occurs just before a cavity appears in a tooth. And dental erosion happens when acids from oral bacteria and the foods you eat erode the enamel on your teeth. You then begin to experience tooth sensitivity to temperatures and acidic foods.
During a dental cleaning, your dental hygienist can treat dental erosion with a fluoride gel that will help your teeth to heal.
