Routine Dental Cleaning With Merrimack Smiles
A routine dental cleaning is designed for prevention-meaning its purpose is to keep gum disease and tooth decay from developing. While daily brushing and flossing at home are essential for maintaining good oral hygiene, they may not be enough to remove all the bacteria that accumulate in hard-to-reach areas of your mouth.
How often do I need a routine dental cleaning?
For adults and children with a healthy mouth and excellent home care, our doctors typically recommend a cleaning every six (6) months. If you are more prone to dental issues or show early signs of gum disease, more frequent visits may be prescribed by our doctors to professionally remove bacteria build-up and monitor your condition to stop the progression and prevent reoccurrence.
For children and teenagers, routine cleanings are crucial as their teeth and gums are still developing. Cavities, trauma, or other oral health concerns can affect the alignment, structure, and health of their permanent teeth.
Hormonal changes (such as pregnancy) weakened immune systems due to chronic illness, or medications that suppress immunity can also increase the risk of gum disease. In these cases, more frequent cleanings may be necessary to monitor and protect your dental health.
What happens during my routine dental cleaning visit?
Medical History Review: We will review your current medications, health conditions, and allergies and discuss how they relate and affect your dental and overall health.
Discuss your concerns and questions: We want to know what is on your mind. Routine visits with our doctors and team provide an opportunity for you to regularly talk with our doctors about any concerns or questions you have about your dental health and the appearance of your smile.
Take vital signs: We take vital signs such as blood pressure, identifying and discussing with you any noted changes that may be a sign of a health concern.
Update X-rays: X-rays allow our doctors to evaluate the condition of your jawbone and tooth structures below the gumline.
Update Photographs: We capture images of your mouth, teeth, and gums to document their current state and monitor any changes over time.
Disease Screening: We examine your face, neck, lips, tongue, throat, and the soft and hard tissues inside your mouth for changes or unusual areas that may be a sign of a health concern, such as cancer.
Periodontal Charting: We measure the depth (pocketing) of where your gum tissue attaches to your tooth.
Professional Teeth Cleaning: Using specialized tools our hygienist cleans your teeth above the gum line, to remove the build-up of disease-causing plaque (bacteria).
Periodontal Evaluation: We examine your gums for signs of periodontal (gum) disease such as inflammation, bleeding, and bad breath.
Oral Cavity Evaluation: We examine your teeth for signs of decay damage or other conditions that could negatively impact your dental health.
Doctors Evaluation: After reviewing the diagnostic information collected during this visit and contained in your historical records, and utilizing the photos and x-rays, our doctors will show and discuss their findings, ensuring there is time to have your questions satisfactorily answered.
Oral Care Recommendations: We review your home care routine and make recommendations that will help you continue to maintain a healthy mouth in between visits with our team.
Why Choose Merrimack Smiles?
Our practice is built on a foundation of core values that include integrity, accountability, and a commitment to excellence. We believe in open communication, transparency, and treating every patient with dignity and respect. Empowering our patients through education, helping them understand their dental health and the options available to them ensures that our patients are informed and confident in the decisions they make about their care. We aspire to change the way our patients think about dentistry working to provide proactive preventative care, with the goal of eliminating unexpected worry and improved health, enhancing their everyday lives.
As the only B Corp certified dental office in Northern New England, we are dedicated to the health and betterment of our community at large. We are committed to conducting business as if people and place matter most, and through best practices in governance and sustainability creating positive impacts that reach far beyond our practice’s doors.
At Merrimack Smiles, we do things differently. Experience the difference. Come Smile with us.