A teeth cleaning procedure is one of the simplest, most affordable and most effective services you’ll find at a dentist’s office. As great as this procedure is at removing tartar buildup from teeth and preserving the gums, sometimes it’s necessary to go deeper. If you haven’t been to the dentist’s office in a while and have been neglecting your oral health at home, your dentist may recommend you undergo a deep cleaning. Take a look at what a deep cleaning is and find out how it can stabilize the health of your mouth.
Scaling and Root Planing
Used similarly in a standard teeth cleaning procedure, a dental scaler is used to carefully scrape away tartar that has hardened onto the surfaces of the teeth. With a deep cleaning, your dentist or hygienist will remove tartar that has accumulated above and below the gum line.
With the tartar removed from each tooth, including each tooth’s roots, the next phase in the process is smoothing over the tooth roots so that the gums adhere to them uniformly. As gum disease advances, it begins to create bacterial pockets between the teeth and teeth roots. With the tarter removed and the teeth roots smoothed over, the gums typically tightened up around the teeth to provide maximum support.
Taking it Further
A scaling and root planing procedure is often highly effective at stopping gum disease in its tracks and saving mouths from the devastating, irreversible damage caused by advanced gum disease.
If scaling and root planing aren’t enough to stop the steady, destructive march of gum disease, an experienced periodontist may offer the following procedures:
Periodontal maintenance – when a one-off deep cleaning isn’t enough, your periodontist may recommend that you have the procedure done again every three to four months.
Osseous surgery – taking the deep cleaning process a step further, osseous surgery also entails removed bits of diseased gum tissues and decayed bone to stop the spread of the infection and to preserve the healthy area.
Your periodontist will reshape the damaged area of the bone and then attach the gums back to the jawbone and teeth.
Dentist in Van Nuys, CA
Schedule a consultation with a local dentist in Van Nuys, CA to learn more about just how affordable it is to keep your teeth and gums in good health.