The majority of the human population visits a hygienic visit as a car wash. Get in, get scraped, get out. However, as every person who has sat in the chair at Roseneath Dental Practice realizes, it is much more than that. We should discuss what happens in reality.
The appointment typically begins with a good examination of your gum health. And a look and nod is not enough, it is a procedure, a procedure, a wee probe to determine how deep the pockets on each tooth are. Numbers get called out. It sounds clinical. It kind of is. However, the figures are the beginning of a narrative of what has been simmering under the surface and that narrative is important.
Next there is the scale and polish. This is the section that one enjoys or despises. The hard work is done by ultrasonic scalers, which loosen up hardened tartar that your brush has been kindly avoiding, months after months. Some patches feel sensitive. That’s normal. That was also indicative of something that had to be sorted.
Here is something to be known, plaque, which has been hardened to calculus cannot be removed at home. Full stop. Not the slightest vigorous brushing of it will move it. So just because you have been avoiding hygiene appointments because you think that your oral care regimen has everything, it does not. No criticism of that, that is merely biology.
Richmond cultural practices are also intensive on the education aspect, as well. You will go away with tailor-made information regarding technique, tools or diet. A certain hygienist may demonstrate that you brush too hard (and it is very common). Alternatively, one can note that the distance between two individual teeth is an area of trouble that should be monitored.
Frequency matters here. The standard is six months, though some individuals have no qualms taking three or four months, particularly to treat gum disease or with orthodontics. The interval isn’t arbitrary. It is grounded on the rate of deposition that happens to your mouth in particular.
Bad breath? Not your morning coffee, often it is the bacteria that live below the gumline. A good clean is one that deals with that at the cause and not at the effect.
The entire session lasts between 45mins and an hour. It’s not glamorous. There is no one who walks away believing it was a rollicking good time. But consistently? The patients feel that their teeth are sharper, cleaner and most importantly, they smile a little easier after that.
That’s the point, isn’t it.