To maintain dental health and hygiene, it is necessary to brush and floss the teeth. Besides keeping your teeth appealing, it keeps them healthy and strong.
Without proper cleaning, teeth become weaker and more prone to infections. Thus, keeping periodontal disease at bay and treating cavities is essential to prevent tooth loss.
What’s the difference between regular vs deep cleaning?
In a regular cleaning, the teeth’ outer surface is scuffed and polished.
Deep cleaning is removing bacteria colonies and tartar from the roots of the teeth.
What is Deep Cleaning?
In a deep dental cleaning, plaque and tartar beneath the gum line are removed. Afterward, the teeth are cleaned between the gums. Root scaling is always recommended whenever a buildup of tartar on the teeth’s exterior. The dental scaler removes tartar from the teeth by scraping it from beneath the gum line. Besides, this procedure removes plaque from teeth’ surfaces using an ultrasonic device.
Planing the roots involves rubbing the roots to remove rough spots from teeth. These spots trap and harbor bacteria and lead to gum disease. Cleaning and keeping your gums healthy is crucial to reattaching your gums to your teeth. For example, a reddened and swollen gum line may state an infection. This means you might need a deep dental cleaning.
Deep Cleaning vs. Regular Dental Cleaning
Deep dental cleanings differ from regular dental cleanings. Cleaning the teeth regularly prevents cavities and gum disease. With the tartar removed, the gums have not yet been invaded, so a scaler is used to remove the tartar. But when tartar accumulates too much, deep dental cleaning is the only way to remove it.
Deep cleaning involves removing calculus and debris that accumulate at the roots of the teeth. In contrast to regular cleanings, these sessions are intense and require more than a single visit. To determine if the cleaning is successful, the dentist must monitor the teeth and gums. Many people with sensitive teeth or periodontal disease must multiple sessions.
Deep cleaning does not include root planning. It is only done during deep dental cleanings. Thus, it is crucial to understand how the two types differ from each other. The technician cleans roots deep into the pockets to remove tartar and plaque so bacteria can’t grow.
Is Deep Cleaning Teeth Necessary?
The importance of deep teeth cleaning has been stressed to prevent the growth of bacteria in the root pockets. In the absence of control, bacteria growth can cause permanent damage and tooth loss. The following reasons and circumstances support deep cleaning of the mouth.
The symptoms of gum disease and infections include:
- Redness and swelling of the gum line.
- Bleeding under the gum line.
- Frequent bad breath.
- Loosening of teeth from the gum line.
- Pus under the gum line.
- A hygienist may recommend a deep tooth cleaning. Because your teeth have likely hardened since you have been unable to remove stubborn tartar from their surfaces and will need to be deep scaled.
- A client with gum disease, such as gingivitis or periodontitis, should not undergo this procedure.
- As part of the yearly routine dental checkup.
- If you have not seen your hygienist in a while (more than six months)
- If the gum pockets are more than 5 millimeters deep, you may have periodontal disease. This can need a deep dental cleaning.
Deep Cleaning Teeth Procedure Steps
Preliminary Discussion:
The dentist discusses with the patient about changes to the patient’s dental history. Or if the patient is taking any medications. A specialist may recommend other procedures for a more comprehensive evaluation, such as an X-ray.
Periodontal Charting:
A dentist or hygienist will measure an individual’s gum socket depth. , a specialist will use a special tool to measure the depth, which should be within 10-3 mm. Also called periodontal probing, this method determines if one has gingivitis or periodontitis.
Scaling:
Using an ultrasonic device, the dentist can remove plaque and tartar from the teeth’ surface.
Polishing:
Dentists will use gritty toothpaste to polish the teeth. And then use an air polisher to smooth the surface even further.
All contact areas can be cleaned with string floss, dental picks, or tiny brushes inserted between the teeth. The teeth will then be rinsed with a liquid fluoride solution and fluoride varnish to remineralize the enamel.
Does a Dental Deep Cleaning have side effects?
Patients, particularly those with deep sockets, might experience discomfort, it is usually tolerable. Following scaling and root planing, it is possible to experience some discomfort around the gum line and inside the teeth.
To cut the discomfort of the needle, dentists apply a local anesthetic to the gum area to numb it as they perform the procedure.
Teeth After Deep Cleaning: What are the after-effects?
You may feel sore in your gums after a deep dental cleaning and may be sensitive to hot fluids and foods for a few days. You should avoid crunchy, hard, and sticky foods since they strain the gums. Also, soreness and sensitivity can be worsened by eating acidic foods. It may also be better to use desensitizing toothpaste. Brushing may also result in slight bleeding, but this lasts for a short time.
It is advisable not to brush around the affected area for a few days as a preventive measure and to delay flossing for about a week. For faster healing, patients can take over-the-counter pain medications. Or do mouth rinses, as recommended by their doctors. To prevent infections in the mouth and keep it clean, rinse it with salt and water 4-6 times a day. Do this within 24 hours of the procedure.
BOTTOM LINE
Both deep cleaning and routine cleaning have benefits in keeping one’s oral hygiene in the best shape possible. However, the cleaning you need for your teeth depends on your teeth and how well you keep your oral health maintained. Therefore, it is always advised to visit your dentist and get regular checkups.