We recognise the benefits of preventative advice to help keep your teeth and mouth as healthy as possible.
Regular examinations and treatment with our hygienists allow you to work with us to maintain the health of your teeth and gums, as well as helping to get the best out any fillings, crowns, bridges or implants that you may already have.
Routine dental health checks provide the opportunity to identify potential problems early on and help to reduce the risk of inconvenient toothache, lost fillings or loose teeth. They can also be life saving as every dental health check includes screening for oral cancer.
Looking after your mouth and teeth with regular visits can help prevent tooth decay, gum disease, worn teeth, bad breath and oral infections. Your mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body and poor oral health can also impact the rest of your systemic health. Our team is dedicated to giving you the best advice and education on how to maintain the best oral health.
We offer a full range of dental services.
What happens when you come for a dental health check?
When you visit us you will be welcomed to the practice by our friendly team. You will be asked to check and sign your patient record details to make sure we have the most up to date information for you, via an electronic tablet.
You will meet with the dentist in one of our surgeries, who will talk to you about any problems you may be experiencing. Your dentist will then carry out an examination on your jaw, mouth, teeth and gums to check everything is healthy and identify and problems if there are any. An oral cancer screening is carried out.
Dental health checks are usually short visits, unless there are particular issues to examine in more detail.
Once we get to know you as a patient we can advise on how often you need to have dental health checks based on your risk of future problems and discuss whether you would like to join one of our care plans or prefer to see us on a ‘pay as you go basis’. When it comes to oral health, one size does not fit all and our advice is tailored to you as an individual.
A dental hygienist is an expert in oral health and helping you stay healthy.
What does a hygienist do?
A hygienist helps you maintain gum health and treats gum disease. They can advise you on the best way to clean your teeth and take control of your oral health.
Your hygienist will advise you on a personal daily dental routine to help reduce the risks of gum disease and treat gum disease if it is already presence. Without excellent oral hygiene, treatment for gum disease has limited success.
Yes hygienists can carry out ‘scaling and polishing’ to remove any build up of tartar – a hard substance that accumulates on your teeth but this is not their main role. Education of patients to be able to carry out a proper home oral hygiene regime is vital. Much like a personal trainer in the fitness industry, our hygienists provide you with motivation and a bespoke plan for home care to establish health habits to gain the best oral health you can.
Appointments usually last between 30-60 minutes depending on what treatment is required.
What is a hygiene maintenance treatment?
If you have healthy gums then a little extra help in keeping your teeth clean will have a therapeutic effect in maintaining gum health. If tartar or plaque builds up on your teeth it can make them more difficult for you to clean and this may lead to inflamed or bleeding gums. These maintenance appointments include of use of water to cleanse below the gum line, to remove any bacteria or deposits which you can’t remove yourself.
Once any build up has been removed from your teeth, the hygienist will polish your teeth using polishing paste or our air polishing machine which uses a fine powder to clean stains in hard to reach places between teeth. Polishing not only leaves your mouth clean and fresh, it can remove stains from tea, coffee and tobacco too.
Our hygienists will also provide you with a plaque and bleeding score-this is a way of empowering you to monitor your oral hygiene- to find out where you are hitting the mark and where you need some additional help or guidance to make sure your mouth stays healthy. It is also an opportunity for problems or any deterioration in your gum health to be picked up early, as well as an oral cancer screening.
Do I see the hygienist every time I visit the dentist?
All of our patients are assessed individually so following a dental health check we can advise patients if they would benefit from seeing the hygienist. The hygienist can then advise you on when they recommend you see them again.
What are the benefits of seeing a hygienist?
- Regular visits to the hygienist can help prevent gum disease and decay or even just remove stains, improving your smile and overall oral health.
- Gum disease can affect everyone at some time, however research has shown that certain patients are more at risk than others. Gum disease is a ‘silent disease’ and often causes no symptoms until it is severe, by which time teeth are likely to be lost.
- Some lifestyle choices such as smoking and medical conditions like diabetes can increase your risk of gum problems.Our hygienists are able to help to identify patients most at risk and work with you to reduce the chance of your gum health deteriorating and maintain your oral health.
- If you have periodontitis (gum disease), professional treatment from a hygienist is an absolutely vital part of the management of your disease.
