Preventative Dental Care and Dental Cleanings

Preventive dental care is all the things you do to take care of your teeth and gums. Brushing, flossing, eating a healthy diet and seeing your dentist regularly for dental cleanings can help you avoid dental disease.

How often should I see my dentist? 

We’ve all heard that you should go to the dentist for a dental cleaning every 6 months and many dental insurances will cover two hygiene visits a year. Early detection can help minimize the need for more serious dental treatment.  However, how often you would like to come in is completely up to you.  Dr. Hunter will make a recommendation for preventative care after he takes into account your individual risk factors for dental disease, your personal preferences, dental history, and your current dental health.

I’ve been told I need ‘scaling and root planing’. Why?

If it’s been a while since your last dental hygiene visit you may need a deep cleaning known as ‘scaling and root planing’. It may take more than one visit to clean off the tartar or calculus that has built up over time.

If you’ve been faithfully going to the hygienist it will be less likely that you will need this procedure. However, sometimes there are exceptions to this rule. You may have deep periodontal pocketing, moderate to severe bone loss or calculus buildup underneath your gum line. We use state of the art digital radiography to diagnose these serious dental issues.

If you need scaling and root planing, we will do all we can to make this procedure as comfortable as possible for you.

This procedure can take up to four visits but usually only two. Typically you can expect to be encouraged to have more frequent cleanings for a time, until your condition is considered to be within normal limits.