Dental Cleaning & Preventive Dentistry in Plymouth

Contents

• Dental Exams & Cleanings
• Digital X-rays
• Sealants
• At-home Oral Care

Dental Exams & Cleanings

Regular dental checkups and cleanings are essential to keep your gum and teeth in an excellent healthy condition, and help detect early signs of dental problems. At Samoset Family Dental, our hygiene team possesses both quality clinical and customer service skills. We offer more than just thorough cleanings and regular X-rays. Our hygienists and staff listen and get to know their patients, so that you get most benefit from each office visit.

A dental examination and cleaning every six months is usually recommended. Patients that are prone to cavities or plaque buildup may need to visit more often. Smokers, diabetics, patients with gum diseases may also need more frequent office visits.

Digital X-rays

Digital X-rays are essential and diagnostic tools that provide valuable information not visible during a regular dental exam. Dentists and hygienists use this information to safely and accurately detect hidden dental abnormalities. Without x-rays, problem areas may go undetected. Dental x-rays may reveal decay between teeth, abscesses or cysts, gum diseases, problems inside a tooth or below the gum line, cancerous and noncancerous tumors, etc.

Because of the importance of x-rays, from diagnosis to treatment, we have invested and put a high value on updating our system. Our intraoral X-ray system is a brand new Gendex Expert DC. Compared to film x-rays, and older digital machines, this digital x-ray machine exposes much less radiation to our patients. The amount of radiation exposure from a full mouth series dental x-rays is equal to the amount a person receives in daily environmental exposure. This technology uses an electronic sensor (instead of x-ray film) to capture and store the digital images on a computer. The images can be instantly viewed and enlarged helping the dentists and dental hygienists detect dental problems earlier.

Our Gendex XS-700 sensors are ergonomically designed to accommodate children and adults alike. The rounded edges and different sizes will fit anyone comfortably.

Sealants

We place sealants on children, which act as a barrier to prevent cavities. They are a simple, painless procedure where material is applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth (premolars and molars) where decay occurs most often.

Even the most thorough brushing and flossing cannot always reach all the way into the depressions and grooves to extract food and plaque. Sealants protect these vulnerable areas by "sealing out" plaque and food.

Sealants hold up well under the force of normal chewing and typically last several years before a reapplication is needed.

At-home Oral Care Instructions:

Prevention is foundational to our practice, so we do our best to educate our patients and teach the children how to develop good, daily oral hygiene habits.

Brushing:

Brushing your teeth, twice a day, with either a manual or electric toothbrush is the beginning of this routine. Positioning the brush at a 45 degree angle, use short, circular strokes to move the brush over each tooth - front and back sides of all your upper and lower teeth. Also, gently brush your tongue. We recommend you replace your toothbrush every three months.

Cleaning between your teeth:

Flossing is an extremely necessary, often neglected method that helps maintain oral hygiene by removing bacteria from areas between the teeth that are hard to reach by brushing alone. Flossing helps maintain healthy gums as well.

Move the floss carefully up and down between each tooth, and make a C-shape with the floss as you reach the gum line. As you move from tooth to tooth, unwind new floss from one hand and wind the used floss onto the other hand. Don’t forget to floss behind the last tooth – he is easily forgotten!

Rinsing with Mouthwash:

Rinsing with a mouthwash can get to places that your toothbrush and even the deep cleaning of floss can miss. In addition, mouthwash can strengthen enamel, prevents cavities, and kills bad breath bacteria.