Dental Hygienists and Prevention Care
Dental Hygienists play a crucial role of the dental team. They are Registered Dental Professionals with the General Dental Council who are specially trained in preventive care and reducing oral diseases. Our hygienist work under the British Society of Periodontology guidelines.
Plaque is the leading cause of dental disease. This is a sticky white film of bacterial and food debris, it can be removed by regular brushing and flossing. However, if not removed the plaque will harden in to tartar. This is a hard deposit and cannot be removed by patients at home. The rough texture of the tartar attracts more plaque to these areas which release toxins on to the teeth and the gums. It’s important to see the hygienist as they will remove this hardened tartar build up.
What to expect when you see the hygienist
In your initial hygiene appointment, the hygienist will assess your oral health with a mixture of medical, social and dental risk factors. From there, baseline measurements of the gums will be taken and a treatment plan will be tailored to your needs and discussed before proceeding.
Your hygiene appointment will consist of scaling with an ultrasonic water instrument and hand instruments. This is to remove tartar (hardened plaque) that will leave the mouth feeling clean and refreshed, finished off with a polish to remove any staining. Often the hygienist will need to spend a number of appointments getting the gums restored to health. An oral hygiene maintenance routine will be tailored to you as an individual to ensure that you have all the tools at home to remove the plaque which causes dental diseases. Hygienists focus on prevention rather than cure so diet advice may given to help reduce the risk of dental decay and erosion.
Recall appointments will be assessed using all these factors, and can range from 3-6 months depending on the health of the mouth. Although it is important to have regular maintenance appointments to remove built up tartar, and modify oral hygiene routines, the oral health of the patient depends on what they are doing at home in terms of plaque removal. This is why hygienists educate patients on toothbrushing with a fluoride toothpaste twice a day and flossing and or using interdental brushes between the teeth.
In addition to regular hygiene appointments, Regular Dental Examinations are key to a successful preventive dental programme, so these are tailored to the individual. It is always our pleasure to report a clean bill of health with no treatment needed.
Healthy Mouth Plan
Our Healthy Mouth Plan has been designed to make all of the above affordable with regular monthly payments by standing order. The benefits of joining include discount on other dental treatment (excluding Orthodontics and Implants) and discounts on beauty treatments and facial aesthetic treatments. Click here to find our more.