Dental Cleaning: A Family Affair
When talking about oral hygiene, there are several things we all know to do to avoid going to the dentist. We brush twice a day for five minutes, we floss once a day, and we avoid eating sticky, sugary foods. In short, we do the preventive medicine required for minimal oral health.
Part of this bare minimum includes making sensible food choices. Any foods that augment muscle and bone growth are generally recommended for teeth and gums. A common sense diet rich in B Vitamins, calcium, manganese, zinc, Vitamin C is recommended, while excess glucose (and other sugars) should be avoided.
You do your homework, and you provide your children with calcium-rich foods that are not too high in sugars. You stock the pantry with cereals and grains high in B Vitamins. You make consistently sensible food choices, because you know that any foods that augment muscle and bone growth are generally recommended for teeth and gums.
Electric scaling was the first technological breakthrough, though dentists still recommend that electric scaling be accompanied by manual scaling. Even more recently, ultrasonic scaling has been developed using a machine called a cavitron to remove excess plaque. However, ultrasonic scaling typically removes only 50% of plaque, and manual scaling is recommended in conjunction with both electric and ultrasonic techniques. In recent years, laser techniques have been developed to remove pockets of plaque residing near or below the gum line, but these often require local anesthesia.
The main thing your dentist will do is clean your teeth and gums. This sounds simple, but as gum disease accounts for about 35% of adult tooth loss, prevention is still the best medicine. Good dentists will also recommend that you clean your tongue, a practice also espoused in Ayurvedic (East Indian) medicine as a vital health practice. Tongue cleaning gets rid of the layer of bacteria, fungi, and decaying food cells that regularly enshroud the tongue.
A professional dental cleaning usually comes in three garden varieties: scaling, root planning, and polishing. Scaling is simply the removal of plaque, and traditionally it involved scraping the excess tartar from the teeth using dental instruments, and was done manually. However, recent technological advancements have increased the scope of scaling, and scaling can now be done electrically, ultrasonically, or with lasers.
Routine dental cleanings are your first line of defense against oral cancers, gum disease, ulceration, and easily avoidable oral health problems such as bad breath (halitosis), gingivitis, tartar (calculus) buildup, and tooth decay. While brushing and flossing alone can remove as much as 70% of the plaque on your teeth, the other 30% lurks in areas that are harder to reach, and professional cleanings are the most sensible preventive medicine.
People with heart problems or diabetes need to consult their physician before undergoing certain types of procedures related to dental cleanings, but don’t let your fear of the dentist override your common sense. A cleaning today (or twice yearly) can stave off severe oral health problems tomorrow.