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Getting Your Teeth Cleaned And Examined

March 2, 2021
Many people often avoid regular dental cleaning based on pain. But for most, the process is stress-free and painless. Cleaning of your teeth, checking for abnormalities in the mouth, neck, and throat are all processes of dental cleaning and examination. Issues concerning how your lifestyle affects your teeth can also be discussed by your dentist and even recommend supplements to improve your tooth and general oral health.
Getting Your Teeth Cleaned And Examined

How Often Do You Need To Get Your Teeth Cleaned?

The American Dental Association suggests that regular dental check-ups should be scheduled at intervals by your dentist. Professionally, teeth cleanings are scheduled twice a year, while dental X-rays are done once a year. Still depending on the dentist’s observation, other appointments might be scheduled. It is said that the mouth is the window to the body’s immune system, so dental check-ups should be made as regular as possible.

What Happens During A Dental Exam?

The physical oral examination is one of the most important procedures during this process. It involves cleaning the teeth, mouth, and checking areas around the mouth. A typical cleaning process takes between 30 minutes to one hour and is performed when lying down on a dental chair. During the cleaning process, the dentist evaluates your need for tooth replacements, removes stains and deposits(plaques and tartars) on the teeth, assess your need for fluoride treatments and check for traces of tooth/root decay or even gum disease( e.g. gingivitis),etc. Peak Dental Association focuses on maintaining normal tooth health in their patients.

Other procedures carried out during the whole check-up process include;

  • Making inquiries about your overall health issues such as medications taken and explaining how these medications affect your oral health.
  • Diet/Nutrition Counselling: Counselling about your diet and other lifestyle issues that affect your oral health should be one of the topmost priorities of your dentist.
  • Denture Care: If you have dentures or braces, the dentist helps in cleaning them and also in evaluating if there is a need for replacement or adjustment. This is done to maintain the effectiveness of your replacement teeth.
  • Dental x-ray or radiographs can also be carried out to get a more detailed diagnosis. Here, detailed images of specific sections of your mouth are shown more clearly. It shows problems that are not detected by the normal physical oral examination. It is not usually done at every dental visit, only done once in a while.
  • Oral Cancer Examination: The bottom parts of your jaws, sides of your neck, insides of your lips and cheeks, your tongue, the roof and floor of your mouth can be examined for signs of oral cancer
  • Occlusion check: A Dental bite or impression of one or both of your jaws can also be taken to produce a replica of your teeth and oral tissues. It helps the dentist to know more about your bite, how you chew, and how you swallow. Also, this can help the dentist make you a mouthguard and bleaching trays.
  • For children, a molar sealant is recommended to prevent cavities in areas that are hard to brush and check clean

Benefits of Regularly Getting Your Teeth Examined

Making these regular visits to your dentist helps prevent periodontal diseases. Also, treatments for these diseases can start immediately if you already have them. These visits could also assist in protecting your overall health. Signs and symptoms of some systemic diseases may show up in the oral region first such as lupus, diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis. Detecting these diseases early enough gives the chance to treat them effectively.

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