YOUR CLEANING – AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR HEALTH

Prevention should serve as a lifestyle pattern for total health, not the least of which is dental health. Prevention in dentistry leads to improved long-term oral health and reduced dental costs. It encourages a bright smile, fresh breath, and an overall good feeling of personal security. Prevention is your insurance policy toward a healthier, pain-free, debt free lifestyle.

Our dental hygienists can provide an excellent service to assist you in the maintenance of your overall dental health. Your cooperation with her can serve to increase your knowledge of your present oral condition. When you keep your appointment with your hygienist, the following benefits will result:

* Your hygienist will customize a personal home care and preventive maintenance program for you and inform you of those dental products that are appropriate for your particular needs. You will be instructed in the proper methods of tooth brushing, flossing and adjunctive dental health devices.

* Your entire mouth will be thoroughly and carefully examined for gum disease, growths, lesions, and any abnormalities that would affect your general health.

* Your teeth will be cleaned and polished to remove plaque and tartar both above and below the gum line, eliminating bacteria that lead to cavities, bad breath, and gum disease.

* Fluoride will be applied to teeth to prevent decay (for children), and root sensitivity / root cavities for adults.

* Sealants can be easily applied to the chewing surfaces of children’s teeth as a protection against future decay.

For our periodontal maintenance patients, your hygienist will use her specialized cleaning instrument, the Cavitron, to not only remove tartar, but also flush bacteria and debris from the periodontal pockets. She will also irrigate and medicate those same pockets with Chlorohexidine Gluconate.

Dental disease is a silent invader, presenting itself in various forms (puffy, bleeding gums, cavities, oral cancer, and abscesses). Although your mouth may appear to be in good health at this time, stresses, body changes, life changes, medications, illness, and age can tax your immune system. Maintaining regular re-care appointments with your hygienist and follow-ups with Dr. Briscoe offer you the assurance that any problems in regard to your oral care will be addressed immediately.

Taking care of tomorrow’s problems today will give you tremendous peace of mind. If you have postponed or missed your last hygiene maintenance appointment, remember: it’s not just a cleaning, it’s an INVESTMENT in your overall health.

Home Care

Home Care Instructions:
1. Floss twice a day (morning and night). Wrap the dental floss around your middle finger and guide the floss with your index fingers and/or your thumbs as instructed in a “C” shape and scrap up and down.
2. Brush three times a day (morning, lunch, and bedtime). Hold the toothbrush at a 45 degree angle toward the gum line and direct the toothbrush under the gums using a small circular stroke. DO NOT RUSH! Spend 3 to 5 minutes brushing. Dry brushing is fine if it is more convenient. Rinse with water and expectorate.
3. Rubber tip one or two times a day. Using the tip of the stimulator, trace around the gum line of the teeth. Place the rubber tip between the teeth from the inside and outside surfaces and use gentle pressure to massage the gum tissue.
4. Proxabrush one or two times a day if recommended by your dental hygienist. Work the brush between open spaces and around bridgework.
5. If using a water pik, fill the tank with warm water and use medium speed directing the water at the right angle to the long axis of the tooth (never angle the waterjet down into the gum tissue). If you have a heart murmur, heart disease, or an artificial joint, check with your physician before using a water jet device.
6. Use fluoride rinses or desensitizing toothpastes daily if recommended.

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Prevention of Periodontal Disease

Prevention of Periodontal Disease (PD) should be a major concern for all of us. In 75-80% of the adults, the concern really should be cleaning up the gums and getting control of the PD (since it can NOT be cured). For today, let’s focus more on prevention in the young people and in the 20-25% of adults not affected by PD.
Floss daily, preferably before you go to bed. Then, brush well with a good fluoride toothpaste for approximately two minutes. The flossing will loosen up food and plaque particles that the brush can then help remove. Rinse by swishing the water around. Spit out and repeat. Rinse and swish 2 or 3 times.
Go to the dentist regularly. For some, that means every six months. For others, the need may be more frequently. If you have dental insurance, great! But, it should not be the deciding factor on how often you visit the dental office. Your dentist and/or your hygienist may provide additional ideas on cleaning your mouth at home.
Eat a well balanced diet, which means you need to meet your nutritional needs while not providing any nutrients in excess. Eat items from the following groups: milk and milk products, meat and meat substitutes, fruits and vegetables, and the grains group. Don’t use tobacco products in any way, shape, or form.

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Periodontal Disease is a Silent Disease

Knowing all that we know about Periodontal Disease (PD), how is it that 75-80% of us are affected by it?
Periodontal Disease is a silent disease in that it does not hurt (until advanced stages) and can go undetected in its earliest stage. Too often, people don’t go to the dentist regularly and start to build up plaque between their teeth. If the person is not a flosser, the plaque starts to accumulate more and more between their teeth. The once healthy gums, pink and firm around each tooth, now start to become inflamed between the back teeth where the plaque is building up. With gingivitis now established, the bacteria residing in the plaque produce toxins that start to break down the attachment of the gums to the teeth. The body’s inflammatory response is to bring increased amounts of blood to those areas to fight off the toxins. The gums become puffy, tender and swollen, and can bleed easily with brushing and flossing (not likely any flossing is occurring in this person).
A cleaning at the dental office at this point could start to turn things around. Flossing and brushing would go a long way toward health. Of course, this person doesn’t have any pain, and is unaware of this situation.
Periodontitis sets in as the plaque by-products, the toxins, destroy the tissues that hold the teeth in the bone. The attachment of the gum to the root surfaces start to be destroyed and pockets develop between the gum and the teeth. The gums pull away from the teeth and recede. More plaque is now accumulating below the gum line in these pockets. Some of the plaque on the root surfaces is hardening into tartar. Like the barnacles forming on the piers at the ocean, the tartar is rough and more plaque sticks to the rough surfaces and become hardened. As the disease progresses, bone under the gums that anchors the teeth begins to dissolve away. The person may notice an unpleasant odor coming from their mouth – bad breath. The gums may bleed when brushing. At this point, with less bone anchoring the teeth and less gum tissue covering the roots, the teeth appear longer and are sensitive to cold and are more susceptible to decay.
In advanced periodontitis, the toxins deep in the pockets continue to destroy the periodontal ligaments and bone, causing the teeth to lose more support. Unless treated, the affected teeth become more mobile and may fall out.
The key, is to not let this all get started. Should you find yourself progressing down the path described above, work hard on brushing and flossing and get into the dental office for evaluation and necessary treatment. You do not have to lose teeth to periodontal disease!

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Gingivitis

Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums caused by the prolonged presence of plaque and tartar on the teeth. The gums become red, puffy and swollen. Gingivitis is a mild form of gum disease that can be reversed with professional dental cleanings by our hygienist and daily brushing and flossing. The gums may bleed during the cleaning and initially when flossing. Gingivitis can be reversed (the inflammation eliminated) because it does not involve bone loss or gum recession.
When the gums are not treated (the person may be brushing but not flossing) the inflammation increases to a point in becomes periodontitis. Here, the plaque builds up below the gums forming pockets. The body’s natural immune system creates enzymes that fight the bacterial toxins within the pockets, but mechanical removal of the plaque and tartar are essential. Left untreated, with time the pockets become deeper, bone loss around the teeth occurs, and the gums recede. Sooner or later the teeth become loose.

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