Why Do I Need To See The Dental Hygienist?
1. A hygiene visit is much more than "just" a clean
Your visit with our Hygienist will consist of removal of accumulated deposits and stains on your teeth by going deep into every crevasse, nook and cranny. Material causing irritation and inflammation to the gums is removed using hand and ultrasonic scalers. Your teeth are cleaned, polished with anti-bacterial paste and a fluoride treatment is applied to protect the teeth. Comfort during treatment is vital so we use topical and local anaesthetic as required. So much time is spent going over your gums and teeth that every hygienist session becomes a thorough exam as well. We are passionate about getting you into a totally healthy state, and providing guidance and education about all the issues that exist or could develop in your mouth. You leave us feeling incredibly fresh, shiny, brighter and better informed.
2. Oral health is part of overall health - We’ll support you to achieve healthier habits
By protecting your general health with a good diet and exercise and ensuring good oral health you can avoid the complications of disease. The bacteria involved in gum disease, whether it is simple gingivitis or more advanced periodontitis, don't limit their toxic effects to just the teeth and gums. They, and their toxic products, are carried throughout the body and have been implicated in all sorts of systemic conditions - diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s and pregnancy complications to name a few! We want to keep all of you healthy.
3. You may not know you have a silent disease - don’t become a victim
Gum or periodontal disease is often called a 'silent disease', because people don't know they have it until it is quite advanced. Then it can be difficult to treat if allowed to progress to a stage where there has been significant gum, tooth root and jaw bone damage. Treated early, the success rate is 100% - if left too long, the success rate drops a lot, and the treatment needs become more complex (time consuming and expensive...). Don’t wait until it's too late and you lose bone structure and teeth.
4. You want to keep your teeth - losing them is not a normal part of ageing!
You can keep your teeth for a lifetime if you follow our advice and visit us regularly, ideally every six months. Gum disease is the most common reason for tooth loss, and is completely avoidable.
5.A healthy stable foundation is essential for durable and long lasting dental restorations
Major dental restorations such as crowns and implants should be done on clean healthy teeth and gums. Otherwise the longevity of the treatment may be compromised, and the process becomes more challenging and potentially problematic for you.
6. You want to save money – right? - Protect your investment in your dental health
Anyone with extensive treatment such crowns and implant crowns or multiple restorations needs to maintain good oral health to avoid future problems and failure. We want, as do you, to make the dental work last as long as possible. The best way to achieve this is to keep your teeth clean and your gums healthy. Our hygienists will work with you to achieve this goal. Follow the precautionary principle like our long-term hygiene patients and you will have an incredibly reliable mouth where things are very unlikely to go wrong. This is the most conservative and cost-effective way of controlling gum disease, helping you avoid expensive treatment with specialists.
7. So small problems don’t grow into big problems
Regular hygiene visits allow us to spot little things before they develop into significant issues. Lower costs will result by avoiding large repairs and avoidable dental emergencies and unbearable pain. Early stages of all cavities and deteriorating fillings are invisible to the naked eye. Our dentists use microscopes with high magnification to find problems before there is a serious risk to a tooth, and treat it conservatively with great precision and care (how many practices have you been to where the dentists use a microscope to do all their work? If you could see what we see through the scope, you just wouldn’t go elsewhere... we can show you how extraordinary the vision is.
8. Hygiene visits are easier when they are more frequent - we want you to look forward to them!
We do everything to make you have a great experience. If you come regularly, ideally every 6-12 months, the maintenance visits are comfortable and pleasant for you, if your baseline health is good, and there is less build-up to remove. Our fastidious hygienists will clean all the areas including those you may miss or simply can’t reach so you get our help to get it perfect. The better you think you are, the more you will appreciate our thoroughness.
9. We want to get to know you so we can provide personalised care
We take time to understand you as a person, and what your needs and concerns are. We favour long term relationships. When we get to know your mouth well, we can predict the issues you may be prone to or at risk from, and do our utmost to keep you healthy. Our hygienists take great satisfaction in developing a rapport with you, and love answering any questions you may have, about yourselves, your partners or children. Different people have different problems, and different solutions.
10. Children should start ownership of their dental health as early as possible
A visit to the dental hygienist for a teeth clean is an excellent way to introduce children to attending to the dentist. Our hygienists are excellent educators of how to clean teeth, floss and eat and drink the right things. They will guide you and your children to a healthy set of adult teeth. We provide care under the Child Dental Benefits Program so if your children are eligible please give them the opportunity to visit us.
11. We will screen you for oral cancer
Oral cancer causes much suffering, and every year many Australians die from this. Oral cancer can be readily diagnosed but the death rate from this type of cancer is high because it is often discovered late in its development, generally when it has metastasised or spread to another location like the lymph nodes of the neck. At this stage the prognosis can be significantly worse. Early detection is important.
12. We can help with dry mouth
Many very common medications prescribed today can result in dry mouth conditions, with decreased salivary flow. This has significant implications for long term oral health. The ageing process also causes this problem. We can help you manage the condition.
13. You can always learn something new!
We take time to educate you about proper and complete home care. Techniques can always be improved. Mouths change over a lifetime - different problems arise. We can educate you about what is going on, new techniques, materials, brushes, rinses, etc There are so many brands of toothpaste, floss, rinses, brushes. We are bombarded in the media with ads for all these. We will sort the truth from the hype. Ask us anything you want!
14. Take advantage of 21st century dentistry to protect your health
Anyone who has the capacity should take advantage of today's dental care. A few generations ago, disease was rampant, and tooth loss common. We have the skills and knowledge to treat pretty much anything today, and we are keen to share this with you so you can have a heathly mouth for a lifetime.
Book in now!
Phone: (03) 9376 3573