PERIODONTICS, CLEANS

What is the most common illness afflicting humans? The answer is gingivitis or inflammation of the gums, characterized by redness and swelling of the gums and their tendency to bleed easily. It is the first sign of gum disease. Yet it is also one of the most easily preventable diseases around. The most common cause of gingivitis is plaque build-up, so effectively removing the plaque that builds up on your teeth will cure gingivitis. The problem is that most people think that they clean quite well - but if you notice that your gums bleed when you brush or floss, you are likely to have gingivitis.

Our advice is that you buy yourself, or ask for your next birthday, a good quality electric toothbrush with a two minute timer. If you then brush your teeth for four minutes, two minutes on top and two minutes on the bottom, twice a day after meals, immediately after flossing, we can virtually guarantee that you will eliminate gingivitis while you keep up this routine. Flossing is also extremely important because no toothbrush will clean in between your teeth and we find all too often that people who don't floss get decay and gum disease in between their teeth as well as complaining of halitosis (bad mouth odour). Flossing should be done before each brushing so that when you brush the fluoride in the toothpaste has a chance to contact clean tooth surfaces between your teeth, to prevent decay. For added effectiveness, have some toothpaste in your mouth when flossing.

Before and after ultrasonic cleaning

Before and after Prophyflex polishing

If plaque is allowed to build up on a regular basis, calcium from saliva deposits within the matrix of the plaque and tartar forms. The problem with tartar is that it forms ledges on the teeth and under these ledges more plaque gets trapped, which becomes harder and harder to clean away as the tartar slowly builds up. In order to break this vicious cycle, the tartar needs to be cleaned away at regular intervals by having a professional scale and polish. For the majority of our patients we recommend a clean at least every six months. A good general six monthly clean takes approximately twenty minutes using an ultrasonic scaler which, as well as vibrating at ultrasonic frequencies to remove the tartar, also irrigates the area.

Scaling is followed by polishing to remove stain build-up on the teeth. For polishing, we use a special particle beam polisher, called a Kavo Prophyflex that does an extremely effective job and results in such common patient remarks as 'my mouth feels the cleanest it has ever been'.

While the cleaning does not harm the teeth at all, some minerals are lost at a microscopic level from the superficial layers of the teeth and after the removal of the tartar some of the newly exposed tooth surfaces may be slightly sensitive. To counteract this, we routinely apply a re-mineralising gel onto the teeth after a professional clean.

If tartar is allowed to build up on the teeth for an extended period of time, such as for over 12 months, the actual supporting structures of the teeth may start to break down. This more advanced form of gum disease is called periodontitis and is a serious condition as it may result in the loss of teeth over the medium to longer term if not halted. If you have persistent bad breath, if you have spaces that begin to appear between your teeth, if one or more of your teeth begin to loosen, if your gums are receding and you have vague aching in your gums, you are likely to be suffering from periodontitis. Periodontitis may be more difficult to treat, especially if it involves the back teeth, and specialist intervention may be necessary under these circumstances. Periodontitis is usually a chronic disease that has been occurring for a long time but from time to time it may flare up and present as an acute condition with considerable pain and discomfort. During these times, antibiotics may settle the symptoms but they are not a cure for the disease.