Deep Dental Cleanings in Scottsdale: When Do You Need Them?

A beautiful smile can brighten a mood. However, sharing a smile can be hard if you have a dental problem. Thankfully, a visit to a Scottsdale family dentist can allow you to undergo a deep dental cleaning to fix it. Proper dental care allows you to share your happiness confidently with others. But when is it necessary to undergo a deep teeth cleaning?

Benefits of Deep Dental Cleaning

Deep dental cleaning is also called gum therapy. As with regular cleaning, the process washes the gunk from the teeth and gums. But it does not only address surface-level buildup but also includes teeth roots and gum lines. 

Deep dental cleaning is important for people who have gum disease, particularly if the gums are pulling away from the teeth. This means that a pocket has been created deep between the teeth and gums. The unhealthy space could lead to gingivitis and periodontitis. In its advanced stage, gum disease has caused the gap to widen, weakening the jawbone and resulting in tooth loss. Deep cleaning will let your dentist identify and prevent dental issues earlier. Getting rid of plaque and tartar will eliminate possible complications. 

Deep cleaning gets rid of harmful bacteria below and above the gum line. It prevents gum disease from progressing and treats infection. Also, deep cleaning minimizes bad breath due to gum disease and protects your teeth roots. This procedure should be performed once every year. 

Regular Dental Cleaning versus Deep Dental Cleaning

Regular, bi-annual dental cleanings get rid of plaque and tartar from your teeth crowns. Your dentist will scale away plaque and tartar using an ultrasonic or manual tool. To complete the procedure, they will polish surface stains from the teeth. This is what routine preventative dental care involves, minimizing your risk of tooth decay and gum disease. 

Meanwhile, deep dental cleaning is performed to treat gum disease. This procedure gets deep below your gums and treats your teeth’s root surfaces. 

What to Expect from the Deep Cleaning Procedure

Deep cleaning is a combination of two procedures meant to deliver optimal results. During deep cleaning, the dentist will perform scaling and root planing. Such procedures deal with bacterial accumulation and prevent bacteria from growing.

Scaling is like regular dental cleaning, but it uses special tools to get deeper into your gums. When gum disease progresses, pockets form around our teeth. The dentist will utilize thin tools to reach inside such pockets and scrape tartar and plaque from your teeth. This procedure is similar to regular teeth cleaning, which addresses the teeth’s visible surface. 

After completing the scaling, the dentist will perform root planing. In this procedure, a different tool is used to smoothen the teeth’s surface below the gum line. This makes it harder for bacteria to establish themselves and grow there. Also, root planing can help the gums reattach to the teeth. 

Both procedures can effectively deal with early gum disease. For more advanced gum disease, additional procedures like flap surgery may be required to reach bacteria deeper below the gums. 

Preventing Gum Disease Following Deep Cleaning

Following the deep cleaning procedure, you must take steps to avoid suffering from gum disease again. This means practicing good oral hygiene. Brushing and flossing your teeth regularly will minimize your risk of gum disease. 

In addition, you should see your dentist for dental cleanings every 6 months. Such cleanings can take care of plaque and tartar before they can spread below your gum line and cause gum disease. Also, your oral health routine should include mouthwash since it can minimize the bacterial population in your mouth while getting rid of food particles they feed on.