When you brush your teeth each morning and night, you probably take the time to make sure you’ve cleaned every surface of each tooth, to remove any accumulation of plaque and food residue. Daily oral hygiene is an important step in preventing tooth decay, but tartar can develop on the teeth, no matter how efficiently you clean them. Professional dental cleaning with Precision Dentistry can help your teeth stay healthy by removing tartar and preventing cavities.
We all do our best to clean our teeth, but the bottom line is that most people have a few spots of tartar that need to be removed during their dental cleanings. Why is this something you should be concerned about?
Plaque is the sticky whitish biofilm that forms on your teeth between brushings. It is composed of food and beverage residue and mouth bacteria. (When your teeth feel fuzzy, it’s plaque you are feeling.) When you brush your teeth, you can remove most of it, but occasionally you will miss a few spots. If plaque is allowed to sit on the teeth for more than 48 hours, it can calcify into tartar. Unlike plaque, tartar is not soluble and can only be removed with professional dental tools.
The reason why this is dangerous is that tartar is like a magnet for bacteria. When you have a spot of tartar anywhere on your tooth enamel, it attracts bacteria, which excrete acids that demineralize tooth enamel and form a cavity.
The teeth have many surfaces that must be cleaned of plaque every day; there are simply too many places where plaque and bacteria hide to be able to remove it all yourself. Therefore, dental cleanings are the best way to make sure your teeth don’t accumulate tartar and don’t develop cavities.
In addition to dental cleanings, routine six-month visits with Precision Dentistry provide several other benefits. During your exam, we check your teeth for cavities and spots of demineralization (“pre-cavities,” if you will). When we find demineralized enamel, we can apply fluoride to strengthen the tooth and prevent a cavity from forming. We also check any previous dental work for potential signs of failure.
Routine visits are a great one-stop oral health check-in. Not only do we clean the teeth, but we also check the gums for signs of gum disease and find out whether any other things in your life might be affecting your oral health. Many medical conditions can have oral health effects, and the only way to know whether you are at risk is to consult with a professional. Dr. Javod Gol also conducts an oral cancer screening at every visit which includes checking the oral tissues, head, neck, and throat for any spots or lumps that may indicate the start of a cancerous growth.
If you haven’t been to the dentist in a long time, you should know that most dental catastrophes are preventable. If you are waiting for a toothache or fractured tooth to send you to the dentist, you are missing out on the greatest benefit of modern dentistry: prevention.
Most cavities are preventable and treatable, as is gum disease. If you wait for the pain to tell you something is happening in your mouth, you are more likely to need a complex restoration that takes longer to fix and costs you more money. No one wants to hear the words “root canal therapy.” Preventive visits help you avoid toothaches and expensive restorations. Let problems go on too long, and you may even need to have a tooth extracted. Dental check-ups help you keep your teeth healthy, so you can keep your teeth for life.
Do you or your family members need a dental cleaning? Come to Precision Dentistry of Columbia, MD for a gentle cleaning that will give you the confidence that your teeth and gums are protected. Call us at (410) 884-0262 to make an appointment.Post navigation
