The Best Teeth Cleaning in Winnipeg

Having your teeth cleaned on a regular basis is an essential component of maintaining good oral health; it helps keep your smile looking great, it helps your teeth and mouth feel better, and most importantly, it drastically reduces your risk of developing oral health problems. Our dental hygienists are highly trained to ensure the most thorough and comfortable teeth cleaning imaginable. Their knowledge, techniques, and dedication to patient care are going to ensure you have a good experience maintaining and improving your oral health. Make sure you see a hygienist and a dentist regularly and book an appointment with us if you are due for a tooth cleaning. If you’re looking for more information about teeth cleaning in Winnipeg, keep reading!

person having their teeth cleaned

Your Oral Health Routine

You probably already brush every day, or even brushing twice a day; some of you reading this may even floss every day. To understand the work of a dental hygienist, it’s important to understand why you should brush and floss your teeth daily.

There are a lot of bacteria living in your mouth; some are incredibly beneficial while others cause all kinds of oral health problems. The bacteria will cause you problems when they feed on sugars found in a lot of foods. When you brush your teeth, you remove food particles found on your teeth, as well as plaque which will reduce the chance of those bacteria causing damage.

Plaque is a biofilm; that means it’s a bunch of bacteria sticking together to the surface of your tooth. These bacteria eat sugars and secrete acid; the acid they secrete causes tooth decay, leading to cavities and other oral health problems. They can also infect your gums and cause them to swell, leading to gingivitis. Brushing helps remove plaque and flossing allows you to access parts of your mouth that your toothbrush can’t reach. The fluoride in your toothpaste helps your teeth restore lost strength, increasing their resistance to acid and decay.

Why You Need Your Teeth Cleaned Professionally

When plaque is left undisturbed for a long enough time, it begins to harden into tartar (sometimes called calculus). Tartar is too hard to remove with a toothbrush; you could brush for days and never get it off.

Tartar creates a number of oral health problems. It is a hard substance that can irritate your gums, causing gingivitis. What’s more, tartar creates a perfect surface for bacteria to cling to, which leads to more tartar. Flossing and brushing is just one part of proper oral health care. We recommend getting a regular teeth cleaning professionally by our hygienists every six months. Sometimes if you already had a history of gum disease which caused some bone loss, or gaps in your gum tissue (called pocketing), a more frequent teeth cleaning schedule may be required.

What Goes Into A Professional Cleaning?

Though professional teeth cleaning services are done in a dental clinic, they aren’t typically performed by dentists. Rather, they’re performed by dental hygienists who are trained and specialized in teeth cleaning techniques.

The teeth cleaning treatment has two main components: scaling and polishing. Scaling gets rid of tartar deposits with the use of hand or ultrasonic instruments. The scaling treatment will often occur both above and below the gum line, especially if periodontal pockets (pockets in your gums) have formed. Cleaning the tartar below the gum line is essential; you can’t access it with a toothbrush, and it’s liable to cause gum infections.

The polishing procedure occurs after the scaling is completed. Scaling can leave teeth feeling rough but when the teeth are polished, the surface of your teeth are left feeling clean and smooth. If you are concerned with the cleaning wearing down enamel, rest assured that is not the case. The enamel layer is above the gum line, where most of the cleaning process occurs below the gum line, and additionally, the enamel is a very hard and resistant material.

Generally, the teeth cleaning process will end with a fluoride treatment, helping your teeth with the remineralization procedure we discussed before.

How Often Should I Get My Teeth Cleaned?

There are a number of different factors that play into how often you should get your teeth cleaned. As a general rule, twice a year is recommend. Going every six months allows you to minimize tartar buildup in your mouth. It will also give us the opportunity to spot oral health concerns you might not have known about otherwise, and treat them before they become problematic. In some cases, 3 or 4 times a year for cleaning could be recommended by our dentists in order to maintain your gums and teeth better and prevent plaque build up and significant gum disease. Remember, prevention of any disease is the best treatment.

I Feel Anxious About Going For A Cleaning; What Should I Do?

Dental anxiety is quite common; if you feel it, you’re not alone. Fortunately, dental professionals are aware of this and have developed a number of ways to help with any anxiety. One of the most useful tools we have available is local anesthetic, which greatly reduces the discomfort some patients feel during dental cleanings.

While anxiety can be a barrier to regular dental cleanings, this preventive care is essential to avoid oral health problems in the future. When you book an appointment with us, let the receptionist know if you feel any kind of anxiety; we’ll make sure you’re treated with extra compassion and respect. If that is still going to prevent you from coming in, ask us about some prescribed calming medications we use for the more anxious patients.

Regular dental cleanings can help you reduce dental anxiety; what’s more, they’ll help you feel your best. Contact our office in order to schedule a dental cleaning; we’re open almost every day, so we’re sure to have a place in our schedule for you. Here at East Kildonan Dental Group, we care about you; let us know how we can help you and we will.