What does a hygienist do?
A hygienist can advise you on the best way to clean your teeth.
Following a referral from your dentist, your hygienist will advise you on a personal daily dental routine to help reduce the risks of gum disease.
Hygienists regularly carry out ‘scaling and polishing’ on the request of your dentist to remove any build up of tartar – a hard substance that accumulates on your teeth.
Appointments usually last between 30-45 minutes depending on what treatment is required.
What is a scale and polish?
If tartar or plaque builds up on your teeth it can make them difficult to clean and may lead to inflamed or bleeding gums. Scaling can be carried out with either hand instruments or an ultrasonic scaler that uses the help of water to clean below the gum line, to remove any bacteria or deposits.
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.
Do I see the hygienist every time I visit the dentist?
All of our patients are assessed individually so following a check up we advise patients if they would benefit from seeing the hygienist and how often to go.
What are the benefits of seeing a hygienist?
- Regular visits to the hygienist can help prevent gum disease and 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.
- 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 gums deteriorating or avoid your teeth becoming loose.
