Aside from visiting your dentist the most important person you can visit to prevent any damage or decay to your teeth and maintain your general oral hygiene is a hygienist, as visiting a hygienist can prevent 90% of a dentists work.

Preventative dentistry

At Dublin18 Dental Care near to Foxrock the hygienists play a key role within the practice as they are trained to help patients prevent gum disease and can also educate you with ways to help keep everything in your mouth healthy, which will help prevent treatment risks in the future.

What is the job of a hygienist?

Many will be wondering what it is a hygienist does, and this is a simple and straight forward set of procedures. Firstly, they will remove any hard deposits of calculus, otherwise know as tartar, which has built up on your teeth and instruct you on ways in which you can prevent this from reforming within your mouth. The hygienist will also carry out a number of teeth cleaning procedures that may be required by the patient, such as deep root planning and a scale and polish. They can also help by looking at your diet and any other potential dental risks within your day-to-day life to help keep your teeth clean, and can provide tailor made programmes to help prevent any serious dental conditions in the future.

Oral health

It is recommend that patients visit their hygienist at least twice a year, however this can change from patient to patient depending on an individual’s oral health, and regular check ups can help determine how many yearly check ups each person will need.

By attending these visits your oral hygiene can be kept in check and in the long run help prevent problems such as gum disease and will help improve your overall health situation, as studies have suggested that issues such as gum disease are related to other more serious conditions such as heart disease.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dental hygienists don’t just clean your teeth – they are there to check that your teeth and mouth are in good health and offer advice on the best products and techniques required to maintain good oral hygiene. Sometimes a hygienist may even offer you dietary advice if they believe that it will help you keep your teeth and gums healthy. Neglecting your oral hygiene can cause discolouration or staining of the teeth, gum disease (swollen, inflamed and bleeding gums) and even tooth loss.

Here are some of the things a dental hygienist can do for you.

Scaling and Polishing

By scaling and polishing your teeth, the hygienist at Dublin18 Dental Care serving Carrickmines removes plaque (a yellowish coloured substance that clings to your teeth caused by a build up of bacteria) and tartar (also known as calculus, plaque that has become hard and scaly over time). A dental cleaning helps makes your teeth both look and feel cleaner and will help prevent tooth decay and gum disease.

Fluoride Therapy

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that helps to strengthen tooth enamel. It is applied to the surface of the teeth in the form of a gel, foam or varnish, to help prevent plaque from forming.

Dental Sealants

Dental sealants work in a similar way to fluoride application. A clear or tooth-coloured substance is applied to the teeth (mainly those at the back of the mouth) to form a protective layer that will ‘seal’ the surface of the tooth and make it smoother. This treatment helps prevent plaque build-up both on and around the teeth and protects them from decay.

Hygienists are there to give patients advice and guidance about the best ways that they can look after their teeth. First and foremost, a visit to the hygienist should be seen as a preventative step –  hygienists have been specially trained to notice problems with your teeth and gums at an early stage in order to prevent them developing into more serious conditions.