HEALTHY TEETH FOR LIFE – is our motto
Just how long we will enjoy a healthy and beautiful smile depends solely on us. Our patients are informed that proper daily oral hygiene is a prerequisite for maintaining healthy teeth throughout their lives. In our clinic, all patients – children and adults, are instructed as to the proper teeth care by our dental hygienists, who advise on the choice of a manual or electric toothbrush adjusted to the individual needs, help to choose a toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss etc. from a wide range of commercially available dental products. Using special phantoms, educational charts, models and sample toothbrushes, they present the best way to clean the teeth. All instructions are being carried out in a specially designed hygiene office.
In addition to properly cleaning your teeth at home, professional prevention treatments in the dentist office are recommended: scaling, air polishing, and fluoride treatments.
SCALING
Scaling is a procedure involving the removal of hard dental deposits (tartar) formed by the mineralization of plaque. The trend towards the formation of tartar and the rate of its formation are individual traits, largely dependent on the composition of saliva (highly mineralized composition favours a faster tartar accumulation). Dietary habits also play an important role, as taking in food rich in sugar or starch, drinking large amounts of tea or coffee and smoking significantly accelerate the build – up of tartar. The accumulation of tartar on the teeth and especially the subgingivial area leads to gingivitis, an inflammation of the gums and the periodontium, resulting in periodontium loss and root exposure – the periodontitis. It is usually recommended to take the scaling treatment every 6 months. In our clinic, scaling is performed using ultrasonic scalers of the NSK – a Japanese company. The scaler generates ultrasonic vibrations with a frequency of tens of thousands of times per second. These vibrations are then transmitted to the scalers’ handpiece, and then to the tooth surface, causing the tartar to break and fall off. After scaling, the teeth are either polished with a special brush and paste, or air-polished. If needed, local anaesthesia is provided for patients with a severe gum inflammation.
AIR POLISHING
Air polishing allows to clean the teeth from soft deposits, stains and plaque using a special prophylaxis powder of various tastes (cherry, lemon, mint, blackcurrant) applied under pressure. Air polishing is usually complementary to the scaling procedure. The turbine cleans areas that for the scaler or toothbrush are difficult to reach. In our clinic, the air-polishing treatments are performed by qualified hygienists, using devices developed by such reputable companies like the NSK and EMS.
FLUORIDE TREATMENT
Fluoride treatment, or fluoride varnishing, is a preventive treatment designed to strengthen tooth enamel and increase its resistance to caries. The dentist uses a varnish of a much higher concentration of fluoride in comparison to the products of everyday use like toothpastes or mouthwashes. The advantage of an in-office fluoride treatment in regard to the fluoride uptake at home lies in the extended supply of fluorine in relation to home methods. The varnish releases fluoride on the teeth for several hours while drying. The fluoride treatment is best performed after the teeth scaling and polishing procedures, and may be carried out already for the youngest children – when primary teeth erupt. Fluoride varnish used for treatment of adults is colourless and not visible after the procedure. Fluoride varnish used for treatment of children is the colour of honey to make it easy to control the amount applied.
The fluoride treatment should be applied every 3 months for children, and twice a year for adults.
ORAL HYGIENE
How to Practice Good Oral Hygiene?
A thorough teeth brushing should take at least 2 minutes. Proper teeth brushing should be carried out with short, gentle strokes of the brush, with special attention paid to the gum line, the difficult-to-reach posterior regions and fillings areas, crowns, or bridges. Thorough brushing should run according to the following scheme:
•Cleaning the outer surfaces of the upper, then lower teeth,
•Cleaning the inner surfaces of the upper, then lower teeth,
•Cleaning the chewing surfaces,
•A tongue cleaning should also be performed for breath refreshing.
It is very important to use an appropriate toothpaste. Currently all varieties of products are offered to suit various patients’ needs, for example with increased fluorine amount, for supporting gum inflammation therapy, for reducing tartar build-up, eliminating teeth sensitivity, whitening toothpastes. Ask our dentist or dental hygienist for a toothpaste suitable for your needs. In addition, it is recommended to use dental floss as a daily routine. Proper flossing removes plaque and food leftovers from places that are difficult to reach with a toothbrush: the subgingivial and the interdental spaces. Mouthrinses are recommended as a complementary treatment to the daily oral hygiene routine: they are used for breath refreshing, they clean the spaces inaccessible to the toothbrush and thus increase the fluorine intake.