Preventative Treatments
Smile with confidence
Dental Hygienist
As a practice we are dedicated to providing good oral health for our patients and have adopted a preventative approach to dentistry. Our hygienists work alongside our dentists to give you and your family comprehensive preventative dental care.
Both our hygienists, Joanne Boulding and Terrie Robinson, are highly qualified and very experienced in their field. As well as professionally cleaning your teeth they will give you advice on your diet and how to keep your teeth free of plaque and decay.
Clinical studies have proven that regular scaling and polishing by a hygienist will help keep your teeth and gums healthy, your smile whiter and your breath fresher. Scaling eliminates the hard tartar, which cannot be removed by brushing alone, while polishing tackles the stains that build-up from daily activities such as drinking coffee, tea and red wine, or smoking.
Spray Polishing
We are pleased to offer the latest spray polishing system to thoroughly clean your teeth and brighten your smile. Using a gentle and safe abrasive applied using a stream of pressurised air, our hygiene team can remove most types of surface staining from your teeth. Please ask for more details when you attend your next hygiene appointment or call us on the number above.
Gum Disease
Gum disease rather than tooth decay is the major cause of tooth loss in adult patients. Bacteria thrive in the plaque and tartar on your teeth, producing harmful chemicals that irritate your gums and cause them to bleed, eventually causing teeth to become loose. Therefore, regular removal of bacteria, plaque and tartar professionally by the hygienist is essential to maintain healthy gums.
It is widely accepted by the medical profession that gum disease can also adversely affect your general heath; there is a link to an increased risk of heart disease and strokes. By regularly visiting a hygienist you can help prevent future health problems and improve your general wellbeing.
Oral care
There is increasing evidence showing a link between oral health and general health, and as your mouth is part of your body, so it just makes sense to take care of your oral health. Beyond your teeth and gums, here are some surprising reasons why oral care matters for a healthy body.
Healthy gums for a healthier heart
Many studies suggest that people with periodontal (gum) disease are at greater risk of heart disease and can have twice the risk of having a fatal heart attack than people without periodontal disease. This is a very scary thought so it is very important to have regular oral hygiene visits and between these visits maintain a good oral care routine.
Interdental Brushing and Flossing
As a result of improved oral hygiene and fluoride, more people are keeping their own teeth into old age. But in order to continue to maintain healthy teeth and gums, a regime of brushing and rinsing twice a day should be combined with inter-dental brushing, effectively cleaning between the teeth. You can clean between your teeth using a range of products including dental floss, inter-dental brushes, single tuft toothbrushes, dental sticks, rubber tip stimulators and irrigation devices.
Brushing alone cannot remove plaque that is located in places a toothbrush simply cannot reach, particularly between teeth. Flossing helps remove plaque and debris that gets stuck between teeth, as well as polish tooth surfaces and control bad breath. Flossing should take place at least once a day, for two to three minutes each time, to be most effective.
Tongue Cleaning
A healthy tongue should be slightly moist, smooth, and pinkish in colour, but a white or yellow tongue is a major indication of bad breath problems. Although not common practice, cleaning your tongue on a regular basis can be the single most beneficial treatment for bad breath.
Fissure Sealants
Deep pits and grooves can be found on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. Such pits and grooves are termed ‘fissures’ and are usually so narrow that toothbrush bristles and streams of water are not able to clean them effectively. Fissure sealants can be applied to the teeth to remedy the problem.
Fissure sealants are special materials used by dentists to seal off pits and fissures from the oral environment. Sealing the tooth surface protects fissures from bacteria and fermentable foods like sugar and starches, to prevent decay from starting deep within the fissures.
