What Happens During Dental Exams & Cleaning?

An oral exam is usually performed by a dentist or a hygienist and is aimed at assessing the state of your oral health as well as evaluating your risk of developing oral problems. A typical session involves checking for cavities, gum disease, oral cancer or any abnormalities within the mouth and a deep cleaning of your teeth too. In case any problems are identified, a strategy is put in place to prevent them from growing in size and severity. Having regular check-ups should be part of your dental care routine.

Importance of Having Regular Dental Exams

Oral health contributes significantly to overall wellness but is still easily overlooked. Most people will only visit a dentist when they are in pain or suspect something is wrong. This should however not be the case. When you visit your dentist regularly, preventive measures can be enforced long before the issue arises and problems can be diagnosed early and make treatment less invasive. In the long run you have a higher chance of successful treatment and also get to save money.

Patients with a healthy mouth are usually advised to have a dental checkup twice every year, while those with certain risks may need more regular visits as recommended by the dentist. If you are interested in getting dental exam near your area, contact us to have our dentist develop a personalized schedule. Our dentist will need to get your dental medical history and run an oral exam before determining how often you should come for check-ups and cleanings.

What to Expect

There are some general steps and procedures you should expect at a regular oral exam. They include:

• Medical History Review

Before anything else, your dentist needs to have a background on your oral health. You may be asked a few questions on things such as the type of medications you are currently taking, if you have any allergies or medical conditions, lifestyle habits like drinking and smoking etc. If you have a dedicated dentist, the background questions will just be basic but for a new dentist, the questions may be more and a little comprehensive. Your answers and the details in your medical records, if they exist, is what will be used to establish a suitable treatment plan.

• Physical Examination

Once armed with all the relevant information, the dentist will proceed to physically investigate your teeth, gums, jaw and supporting structure. Some actions to expect at this stage include:

• Quick Observation

Using a small mirror, a dental or hygienist will check around your teeth and gums for any alarming signs. If there are any problems, a remedy may be offered or additional tests may be carried out to confirm what the issue is

• Dental X-rays

An x-ray may be carried to help detect if there are any abnormalities that the naked eye could not spot. A full mouth x-ray will be done first and if the doctor suspects anything, spot checking can be done on specific areas. It is not always a must to have an x-ray done at every dental check-up. If worried about the exposure to radiation, you can also discuss this with your dentist, although the exposure is usually very low.

• Dental Cleaning

Even though you brush and floss regularly, it is necessary to have your teeth cleaned professionally every once in a while. Our clinic offers the best teeth cleaning services in Globe, AZ that is gentle and effective. It begins with plaque and tartar removal between teeth and around the gum line. Once the tartar and plaque are all gone, the hygienist uses an electric brush and a gritty toothpaste to gently scrub the teeth and clean them further. The toothpaste may smell and taste like your regular toothpaste but with a coarser texture.

Following the brushing is an expert flossing session then your mouth is rinsed. Usually you will be given a mouth rinse containing liquid fluoride. The last step also involves fluoride, where a paste containing the mineral is applied onto your teeth’s enamel and left to settle for a minute. Afterwards a fluoride varnish is applied, which will dry immediately and thereafter you can proceed to eat, drink and talk like normal.

• Other steps

Sometimes you may also have to take an oral cancer screening and give dental impressions of your teeth during a check-up. if necessary, your dentist will advise.

• Education

After the examination, review and cleaning procedures, the dentist will take time to discuss his or her findings and concerns. If there is any condition requiring further attention, you may be referred to a specialist and also advised on how to properly care for your teeth to avoid problems in the future.