Professional cleaning of teeth: indications, contraindications, techniques

A person with an open smile has to associate with others.But many hesitate to smile, because not all teeth are healthy and snow-white.The fact that it is necessary to treat caries in a timely manner is known to everyone, but this disease is by far not the only problem that can spoil the appearance of the dentition.

In the presence of solid mineralized deposits( "dental stones") should be removed as soon as possible in order to avoid the development of serious consequences, in particular - periodontal diseases.Not always these deposits can be detected independently;As a rule, they are detected by the dentist during the examination and instrumental research.

Contents: Professional teeth cleaning Why contact a specialist?Contraindications to professional cleaning How is the procedure performed?Possible complications after professional cleaning

Professional teeth cleaning

What is professional tooth cleaning?Professional cleaning is the procedure for removing plaque and mineralized deposits( stone), which is performed by a dentist using modern preparations, tools and equipment.

It is recommended to use the services of specialists from time to time without exception, but especially those patients who have fixed orthodontic constructions( in particular - braces), as well as bridges, crowns, veneers( lining on the vestibular surface)And implants.Professional cleaning is also necessary if you are planning to undergo tooth whitening.

Why contact a specialist?

Regular cleaning of teeth at home, even if you follow all the rules of its conduct and use of quality brushes, does not always allow to remove 100% of the formed plaque.Most often it accumulates in the interdental spaces, the cervical region( especially - on the posterior surface of the teeth) and in the subgingival space.With the passage of time, mineral compounds are deposited in the deposit, which leads to its compaction.Thus, tartar is formed, which is almost impossible to remove by itself.Dense deposits lead to inflammation of the gums( gingivitis), the formation of abnormal tooth-gum pockets and periodontitis.

Please note: The prices for the professional dental cleaning procedure are much lower than the cost of caries treatment and other diseases that develop due to insufficiently high level of hygiene.

Contraindications to professional cleaning

Contraindications to professional cleaning of teeth are:

• marked inflammation of the mucous membranes of the oral cavity( before the elimination of inflammation or reduction in the severity of clinical manifestations);
• enamel erosion;
• increased sensitivity of teeth;
• arrhythmia( in the anamnesis).

This medical manipulation is also highly undesirable for children and adolescents.

The use of the air flow device is not permissible if the patient suffers from epilepsy, acute infectious diseases, bronchial asthma( severe form) or diabetes mellitus.It is impossible to carry out the procedure for obstructed nasal breathing( runny nose against the background of ARVI or chronic rhinitis).

How is the procedure performed?

More recently, enamel cleaning has been carried out exclusively mechanically by means of special tools.The procedure took a long time and was very traumatic.Today, dentists use advanced hardware techniques that improve the quality of cleaning and ensure complete safety.

The manipulation assumes:

• removal of dense deposits;
• elimination of soft plaque;
• tooth polishing;
• enamel coating with protective layer of fluorine lacquer.

First, ultrasonic teeth cleaning is performed from the stone using a special device - a scaler.

Dense mineralized deposits are affected by high frequency sound waves, which breaks the strength of its adhesion to the surface of the enamel.In parallel, the cooling of the tooth with a flow of water, which reduces to zero possible unpleasant sensations.

Although the procedure for cleaning the teeth from the stone is painless, with hypersensitivity of the enamel, preliminary local anesthesia( infiltration or conduction) can be indicated.

In addition to scalpers, laser installations can be used, the radiation of which selectively affects the hard plaque.The undoubted advantages of using a medical laser are complete painlessness of manipulation and improvement of enamel state after it is performed.

Soft plaque is removed from the enamel by means of the air flow device, from which an aerosol consisting of a suspension of safe melodisperse abrasive( soda) and water is supplied under pressure.The technique allows not only to remove plaque, but also to eliminate the pigmentation of the upper layer of enamel.Ultrasonic cleaning of teeth air flow makes it possible to eliminate soft deposits in the most inaccessible places.

Cleaning the teeth with soda at home makes it possible to achieve a similar, but much less pronounced effect.

Note : If no tartar is found during the examination, the cleaning is started immediately from the second stage, avoiding ultrasonic brushing of the teeth.

After the surface of the tooth is cleaned, proceed to polishing it with the use of special abrasive pastes, which are selected strictly individually according to the state of the patient's dentoalveolar system.Polishing makes the enamel flawlessly smooth, which prevents the adhesion of the plaque for quite some time.

The final stage involves applying to the enamel a protective composition - fluorine lacquer.Fluoride prevents the "washing out" of mineral components( calcium compounds).

The lacquer applied with observance of all requirements is capable to keep on a surface of a teeth till 2 weeks, reducing their sensitivity.

Important: A number of formulations can temporarily impart an unwanted yellowish shade to the enamel.

Possible complications after professional cleaning

Some patients may complain of increased bleeding gums after removing the stone, as well as cleaning and whitening the teeth of the air flow, but in this case we are not talking about the shortcomings of the techniques, but about the insufficiently high qualification of the dentist.

Plisov Vladimir Alexandrovich, dentist