Hygienist in Orpington

During a dental examination, we examine your gums and the bone that supports the teeth. We will screen for gum disease and assess your risk of gum disease. We often recommend seeing a hygienist if you have gum disease.

Accumulation of plaque and tartar, particularly below the gum can lead to the loss of the bone around your teeth. If left untreated teeth will loosen, start moving, tilting, and twisting and the gums will recede.

Our hygienist is specially trained to provide a deep clean of your teeth, remove plaque and tartar particularly below the gum line, and provide cleaning advice tailored to you so that you can maintain good oral hygiene.

Seeing the hygienist regularly and maintaining good oral hygiene will help prevent gum disease.
The right treatment for you

 …… is prevention.  Whenever you eat or drink anything sugary, the sugar will be converted into acid by bacteria in your mouth. The acid that is produced will dissolve the enamel on your teeth causing cavities and tooth decay.

Acidic food and drinks are harmful to your teeth. Dietary acids can cause erosion of tooth enamel and expose the yellow dentine.

Choose to drink fruit juices and acidic beverages e.g wine, beer, fizzy drinks at mealtimes and dilute down cordial drinks. Brush teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, ideally before breakfast and before going to bed. DO NOT brush straight after a meal as mealtime acids will have softened the enamel on your teeth and toothbrushing will remove the softened layer of enamel.

It’s all about smiles

Preventative care and good oral hygiene are essential for good oral health. Your dental examination will include any necessary preventative and dietary recommendations, a screening to assess the risk of gum disease, and an examination of the oral soft tissues. We will provide you with a protocol for treating gum disease including any descaling, root planing, and polishing of teeth at regular intervals. This combined with regular check ups will help to reduce the risk of tooth decay, gum disease and identify any mouth pathology.
We will work with you to help maintain your teeth. During the dental examination, we will assess the health of your teeth and gums and discuss any treatment you require to achieve dental health and a maintenance program to prevent any dental problems from returning.
We will advise you on the best methods of tooth brushing and plaque control and the most suitable oral hygiene products for you to help prevent gum disease. We will discuss dietary habits, fluoride treatments if deemed necessary and fissure sealants, which are available to us to help prevent tooth decay.

Handy Hints
  • Use a straw when drinking acidic/fizzy drinks
  • Avoid snacking between meals
  • Try and consume any tempting sugary/sweet items with your main meals
  • Check your brushing technique regularly by chewing a disclosing tablet. This will stain up the areas you’re not brushing properly
  • If you have been advised to use a fluoride mouthwash, try and rinse with it at different times to when you brush your teeth
 

 

Your Four Best Friends!

Diet

Whenever you eat or drink anything sugary, the sugar will be converted into acid by bacteria in your mouth. The acid that is produced will dissolve the enamel on your teeth causing cavities and tooth decay.

Acidic food and drinks are harmful to your teeth. Dietary acids can cause erosion of tooth enamel and expose the yellow dentine of your tooth, not only does this give your teeth the yellow discoloration but will also cause sensitivity.

We advise that you limit your intake of sugary or acidic food and beverages. Try and restrict sugary or acidic items to mealtimes. Avoid snacking between meals. If you are going to snack, it is far better to have savoury snacks between meals like breadsticks, cheese, nuts, or vegetables.

Choose to drink fruit juices and acidic beverages e.g wine, beer, fizzy drinks at mealtimes and dilute down cordial drinks. It is far better to drink water or milk between meals, if unavoidable drinking very diluted cordial drinks through a straw is less harmful and reduce the contact of acid on your teeth.

Chewing sugar-free gum after meals promotes saliva flow and will help to neutralise mealtime acids.

Tooth brushing

Brush teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, ideally before breakfast and before going to bed. DO NOT brush straight after a meal as mealtimes acids will have softened the enamel on your teeth and tooth brushing will remove the softened layer of enamel.

We will advise you on the best technique and the most suitable toothbrush for you. Generally, we recommend adults use a small size toothbrush with soft filaments. Electric toothbrushes are an alternative particularly if you find the manual brushing technique we specify difficult. We prefer patients to use a rechargeable electric toothbrush with an oscillating rotary action with a pressure indicator light or sensor. We are happy to discuss the most suitable option for you. We recommend the regular use of plaque disclosing tablets that stain any plaque left behind after brushing, further brushing will remove this and is a useful way of checking that you are brushing correctly between your dental check up appointments.

Toothbrushing only cleans 60% of your teeth. This is why cleaning between your teeth is so important to reach the remaining 40%. The surfaces between your teeth can be cleaned by flossing (we will show you how), using interdental brushes (we will recommend the correct sizes and technique), or oral irrigators (these are devices designed to spray a jet of water between your teeth to remove plaque).
Toothpastes

We recommend the use of fluoride toothpastes. Up to the age of 3, children should use a smear of fluoride toothpaste on their toothbrush with a fluoride level of 1000 parts per million (ppm) twice a day. Beyond the age of three and in adulthood toothpastes should contain 1350ppm-1500ppm of fluoride. A pea sized quantity should be used twice a day BEFORE BREAKFAST AND BEFORE GOING TO BED. DO NOT brush straight after a meal as mealtime acids will have softened the enamel on your teeth and toothbrushing will remove the softened layer of enamel.

Mouthwashes

Mouthwashes are useful for freshening your breath. We may recommend fluoride containing mouthwashes or antibacterial mouthwashes for individual cases after a dental examination with us. We would suggest using an alcohol free mouthwash for regular use.