311 Park Avenue, Falls Church, VA 22046 | 703-241-0666
Services
Cleaning and Prevention
The old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Nowhere is this truer than in dentistry. We can, of course, help patients who come in with dental emergencies, but the best time to ensure a healthy smile is between visits, with good oral hygiene practices and a healthy diet.
However, even the most diligent home care pales in comparison to the care available from your dentist. It is important to visit the dentist at least once every six months for a cleaning, also called a Prophylaxis or “prophy.”
Why do I need my teeth cleaned twice a year?
There are two basic reasons to come in for regular cleanings: to remove buildups of tartar, and to examine the health of your teeth and gums. The frequency of “cleanings” is tailored to your needs – some patients need quarterly visits and some need yearly visits.
Over time, dental plaque can harden into a substance called calculus, perhaps better known as tartar. The rough surface of calculus buildup provides an ideal environment for further plaque formation, threatening the health of the mouth and gingiva. Unfortunately, calculus is too hard and firmly attached to the teeth to be removed by brushing and flossing alone; fortunately, your dentist has all the special tools necessary to rid your mouth of tartar.
Regular examinations are also crucial for catching small problems before they become big ones. At these six-month cleanings, your dentist can locate cavities before they require root canals, remove impacted wisdom teeth before they alter your dentition, and even identify precancerous growths before they become very serious problems.
What is involved in a dental prophylaxis?
When you visit our office, your prophylaxis might involve one or all of the following.
- Debridement – The removal of plaque and calculus from the surface of the teeth. This is performed using traditional hand tools as well as ultrasonic instruments, which fracture calculus to allow its removal without damaging the tooth beneath.
- Deep Cleaning – The removal of plaque and calculus from around and beneath the gum line. Deep cleaning is comprised of periodontal scaling and root planing. Scaling is the removal of plaque and tartar from the crown and root surfaces of teeth, while root planing involves the removal of tooth structures such as cementum and dentin that are riddled with calculus and decay.
- Tooth Polishing – The smoothing of tooth surfaces to inhibit the accumulation of plaque. Polishing is performed with various brushes or rubber cups.
- X-rays – Dental X-rays can reveal problems that the dentist might not have found during the rest of an examination. A dental X-ray provides a picture of the bones and surrounding soft tissues of the mouth and jaw. These images can be used to identify cavities, cancerous or benign growths, bone loss, and hidden structures such as wisdom teeth.
- Perio Charting – A careful cataloguing of the state of a patient’s gums. The hygienist uses a precise pick to measure the pockets formed between the gumline and the tooth, and notes any bleeding points. This process is used to diagnose periodontitis, or gum disease.
- Oral Cancer Screening – A multi-step process whose aim is to locate and identify growths in the mouth. This is generally performed with the naked eye, using a white light and palpation to look for bumps in the neck and face. We can also perform a more thorough screening using a tool called the VELscope. The VELscope emits a safe, blue light into the oral cavity, causing fluorescence throughout all layers of oral tissue. The tool allows your dentist to differentiate between healthy and abnormal tissue, even if such abnormalities are invisible to the naked eye.
Come see us! Regular checkups at our office can save you a lot of time and discomfort down the line.
At our office, we use clinical laboratory services from OralDNA LabsTM to ensure we are giving our patients the best oral health information possible. OralDNA LabsTMTM is a specialty diagnostics company designed to provide reliable, definitive and cost effective clinical tests that guide oral health professionals in detecting and prognosing disease at an earlier, more treatable stage.
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