Brushing up on your options
While the vast majority of people out there are aware of what cosmetic dental treatments look like, and the positive impact that they can bring to the aesthetics of your smile, fewer are aware of the good that a dental hygienist Richmond can bring.
Taking care of your teeth and gums is one of the best ways of ensuring the longevity of your smile and preventing the development or spread of dental problems such as decay, gum disease or abscesses. However, if you continually miss certain areas of your mouth when brushing and flossing – which is very common – it can amount to the development of severe dental problems.
A dental hygienist specialises in keeping your smile fit and healthy, and it is recommended that anybody who is concerned or worried about the shape their smile is in should get in touch with a reputable dental hygienist today.
What does a hygenist actually do?
As mentioned, a dental hygienist is a specialist dental practitioner that focusses their skills and attention purely on maintaining the health of a patient’s smile. This includes providing patients of any age with helpful, useful and actionable tips about proper flossing, brushing techniques and ways that they can avoid making repeated unnecessary visits to the dental practice.
As well as helping patients help themselves, a good dental hygienist will also carry out an extensive oral examination to establish the condition your teeth and gums are in, and how much dental work you require. This is the best way to reduce the chances of something unwanted developing in a hard-to-reach area of your mouth, as dental hygienists are experts in noticing what most people would not and making sure you get the proper treatment to address these issues in good time.
Another one of the many advantages of visiting a dental hygienist is their ability to carry out a dental deep-cleaning procedure called a scale and polish.
What does a scale and polish involve?
The process of getting a thorough dental deep clean from a hygienist is commonly known as a scale and polish and consists of two main steps. The results of undergoing such treatment are clear and visible in the shade and cleanliness of your teeth and do not only provide improved aesthetics, as your teeth will be in a far better shape to prevent gum disease or decay in the future.
The initial stage of a scale and polish is often referred to as ‘the scrape’ and involves the dental hygienist using an ultrasound scraper which is a specialist dental cleaning tool, as well as other hand-held devices to scrape away build-ups of tartar, bacteria and plaque from the surface of every tooth.
Once this scraper has rid your teeth of all the surface level bacteria and plaque, the hygenist can then carry out the second stage of the process, which is known as the ‘polish’.
This consists of utilising a dental buffering tool to shine and polish the surface of every tooth to get rid of any leftover plaque, particles and tartar and give your teeth fresher and cleaner looking aesthetics. Once this is completed the scale and polish is finished and your teeth will be far less susceptible to gum disease or decay for several months thereafter.
