A Basic Understanding of Oral Deep Cleaning

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If you go to the dentist and are referred to a prothodontist in town for deep cleaning, there is no need to be afraid. This procedure is an attempt to rescue your damaged teeth before they go from bad to worse. This article provides a general overview of deep cleaning.

Reasons for Deep Cleaning

If tartar and plaque are left on your teeth, they allow bacteria to thrive. This causes irritation to your gums and is the reason you experience bleeding in your gums. Bleeding gums are an early stage of a gum disease referred to as gingivitis.

If gingivitis remains untreated, the inflammation spreads to the foundations of your tooth and causes your teeth to be loose. Gum pockets will form on the foundations of your tooth allowing tartar deposits to develop under the gum line which further weakens the structure of your teeth. Damage to support structures of your teeth cannot be reversed but if gum disease is treated in time, the chances of spreading will be stopped.

What Does Deep Cleaning Entail?

Deep cleaning of teeth involves scaling and root planning. The first process removes dental tartar from your teeth surfaces. Root planning smooths the root surfaces of your teeth and gets rid of infected tooth structure. Roughness is planed away leading to a smooth root surface.

A planed root surface that is free of tartar allows gum tissue to heal and reduces deep gum pockets after deep cleaning.

Is Deep Cleaning Painful?

It depends on how deep the gum pockets are and how severe the root surface irregularities are. The dentist will numb the area to make the process comfortable.

Instead of injectable anaesthetic, your prothodontist might give you oraqix. This is a non-injection device used to deliver anaesthetic gel to your gum pockets to avoid numbing of the tongue or lips that occurs with injected anaesthetics.

If the pocket is not too deep, you will experience little to no discomfort even without numbing. However, you will feel the physical scraping along your teeth as the affected area is being smoothed and cleaned.

How Long is the Procedure?

For deep gum pockets and advanced rough root surfaces, the procedure will be performed in quadrants of work for every appointment. For instance, the lower right part of your mouth will be worked on during one session and the rest in separate appointments. Alternatively, the dentist could clean one half of your mouth per appointment. This makes it easy to deliver anaesthesia to one part of the mouth and allows for shorter appointments.


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