Dental Cleanings and Exams
Salem, OR
 Maintaining a good oral hygiene routine is essential for maintaining the health of your mouth and the beauty of your smile. A major component of this routine is your daily care at home. The ADA recommends that you brush at least twice a day and floss at least once a day. In addition to this daily care, it is also recommended that you have your teeth professionally cleaned and examined at least twice a year, or once every six months. Fairmount Dental Center can help.
Cleanings
While two visits a year might not seem like much, dental cleanings are crucial for helping you to maintain the health of your mouth. With these cleanings, we can effectively remove all buildup from the surfaces of your teeth, including tartar. Tartar is a calcified plaque that cannot be removed at home, no matter how often you brush your teeth at home. We are also able to easily clean the areas of your mouth that might be more difficult for you to thoroughly clean at home.
Cleanings are very simple and straightforward. We begin by scraping the surfaces of your teeth. Using a special tool, we carefully remove plaque, tartar, bacteria, and other debris. We carefully clean around and just under your gum line as well.
After scraping your teeth, they are then polished. We use an electric handpiece and dental polish. The polish contains abrasives that scrub the surfaces of your teeth, giving them a clean, smooth, healthy shine. Polishing can also help to remove surface stains, giving your smile a boost in brightness. Finally, we floss your teeth. With flossing, we can remove buildup from between your teeth that cannot otherwise be reached. We are also able to eliminate debris and polish that may have accumulated during the course of your cleaning. If necessary, we can also provide you with a fluoride varnish.
Exams
Exams are also critical for helping you to maintain optimal oral health. With routine exams, we can spot the earliest warning signs of a variety of different issues, before symptoms ever present themselves. This enables us to provide you with treatment right away, restoring your oral health and preventing more serious complications from arising. In general, spotting and addressing issues early allows us to provide less invasive, more conservative treatments.
Your exam is performed following your cleaning. We look over the visible structures in your mouth, checking your teeth for signs of decay, cavities, and other physical damage, and your gums for signs of infection. We also perform an oral cancer screening, during which we scan your intraoral tissues for unusual growths, lesions, and other abnormalities.
Another important part of your dental exam is dental x-rays. These images are not taken during every exam, but they allow us to examine the hidden areas of your mouth, including between your teeth and below your gum line. We can spot many different issues that would otherwise be invisible, such as root fractures, bone loss, abscesses, and more.
Learn More About Oral Hygiene:
Routine cleanings and exams are a crucial component of your oral hygiene routine and help you to prevent the development of serious oral health issues. Call Fairmount Dental Center at (503) 362-8364 today to learn more and schedule your next appointment. |
