Professional dental cleanings are recommended at least twice a year, however, depending on the patients specific situation and underlying health issues some people should actually come more often. 

A dental cleaning is when a hygienist or dentist uses special tools and techniques to clean your teeth thoroughly and make recommendations for your come care that will help prevent decay and the need for more expensive dental procedures.

There are three main types of dental cleanings:

1) Prophylaxis: this is the basic teeth cleaning or routine cleaning that involves removing staining, plaque, and other build up off the teeth and slightly below gums. This type of cleaning is for relatively healthy mouth and gums and is very useful to catch early gum disease or gingivitis.

2) Scaling and root planning, often called a "deep cleaning" is a recommended for patients at high risk of gum disease or for those who already have gum disease. 

Periodontal disease or gum disease is an infection of the tissue that hold your teeth in place.  It is very serious because it can lead to tooth loss and a variety of other health issues.

Your hygienist will measure your gum pockets, take x-rays, and evaluate your teeth and gums to detect this infection.  The treatment involved a deeper cleaning that goes well below the gum line to remove plaque and eliminate the infection.  Sometimes medication is placed into the gum pockets also. 

3) Debridement :  a debridement is used to remove plaque and build up so the dentist can more throughly examine your teeth.  This is often needed for someone who has not visited the dentist and has too much build up to properly examine the teeth.

Are you looking for a teeth cleaning in the Port St Lucie, FL area? If so, visit https://www.stluciedentist.com/contact-us-dentist to request an appointment online.

We highly recommend regular dental cleanings so that you can be aware of trouble areas to work on at home and also to identify issues that may cause you too loose teeth or need to pay for pricey dental procedures such as crowns, implants, root canals, and more. Our goal is for our patients to keep their real teeth for as long as possible and have total body health.