Highly trained and experienced dental hygienists clean teeth with tools and methods that can only be obtained from a medical professional. Their expertise is vital to the dental health of each and every one of our patients, because without clean teeth, the very foundation of a healthy mouth is questionable at best, and doubtful at worse.
Dental hygienists clean teeth using a number of tools that have been in use for many years. These tools include the standard hand-held and rotary instruments with which many are already familiar. Take, for instance, the tooth scaler. It has been used in General Dentistry for decades to remove plaque from teeth.
One of the newer tools that you will not find, however, in many general dentistry centers is an ultrasonic machine called a Piezo scaler. It uses ultrasonic sound to clean stains from teeth and to polish enamel as it does so.
After removing plaque from teeth, Dental hygienists take care of some basics of hygiene. They brush and floss the teeth using special toothbrushes and toothpastes. Although these are ordinary tools of hygiene on the open market, the ones used at our office are only available to dental professionals. The brushes have small, round tips that move around to clean teeth, and the toothpaste consists of a more grainy constitution that scrapes residual plaque from tooth enamel.
Dental hygienists also floss teeth as a standard practice of hygiene and to refresh the patient's memory on the proper methods of flossing. This is because it is easy for people to neglect to floss or rationalize the use of improper techniques.
A fluoride treatment is also part of the tooth cleaning process. It helps make teeth stronger and more resistant to cavities.
After completing the essentials of cleaning tooth surfaces, dental hygienists now take an even closer look at teeth using X-rays, which are crucial to the discovery of smaller cavities that hide in the narrow gaps between teeth, or lay on the edges of teeth that even dental mirrors cannot easily find.
Sometimes people worry about the fact that X-rays are a form of radiation. This is not a point of concern when it comes to dental X-rays because the exposure times are so short and the amount of radiation is so minimal that the patient is not at risk. Additionally, dental hygienists cover the body with a blanket that acts as a shield, and the beam is directed only at the jaws and teeth to capture the necessary images on film.
Dental hygienists then develop these X-rays and take them to the dentists. The dentist will then examine them in detail and look for problem areas. Teamwork between dentists and hygienists is a key element in making a thorough tooth cleaning work not only from a preventative medical standpoint, but also from an problem-solving standpoint if tooth problems are detected during this phase of the process.
Detecting a problem early on and then talking to the patient about options is an important element to taking the anxiety factor out of dental treatment. Financial anxiety can also be addressed by reminding patients that it is cheaper to fix most problems sooner, rather than later, before they get worse.
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