Dental Checkups and Cleanings – Richardson, TX
Keep Your Smile Healthy and Bright
While daily brushing and flossing can go a long way in preventing dental issues like tooth decay and gum disease, it’s unfortunately not enough to keep those problems at bay. You’ll still need to visit your dentist in Richardson at least twice a year in order to keep your smile healthy and bright. At your biannual appointment, one of our dentists will examine your mouth for any potential issues. Then, our dental hygienist will thoroughly clean your pearly whites until they practically sparkle. If it has been more than six months since your last dental checkup and cleaning, don’t hesitate to give us a call at our Richardson, TX office.
What Occurs During a Typical Dental Checkup?
During the first portion of your appointment, either Dr. Azmoodeh will conduct a thorough examination of your teeth, gums, and other oral tissues to check for problems like tooth decay, gum disease, and even oral cancer. They will use special tools such as x-rays to diagnose problems that can’t be seen with the naked eye, like decay in between the teeth. If issues like these are caught early enough, treatment will still be relatively simple and won’t cost you very much out of pocket at all.
What Happens During a Typical Dental Cleaning?
After our dentists have given your mouth a complete once-over, you’ll be handed off to our dental hygienist. She will use special tools to remove any plaque (and its hardened form, calculus or tartar) that has accumulated on and between your teeth and along your gumline. You may have missed cleaning this substance during your daily oral hygiene regimen, which is why regular cleanings are so crucial. Afterwards, the hygienist will polish your teeth using a special paste so that they will shine brighter. This polishing material actually makes it more difficult for bacteria and plaque to stick to your pearly whites, preventing infection down the road. Finally, we can apply a topical fluoride treatment or dental sealants to provide an extra layer of protection against decay.
Why Are These Appointments So Important?
If you brush and floss every day, should you bother coming in for a regular checkup and cleaning? The answer is a resounding yes! Even people who take diligent care of their pearly whites are unfortunately still susceptible to oral health problems like oral cancer, gum disease, and cavities. These kinds of issues often don’t show symptoms until treatment has become expensive and time-consuming. That’s why it’s important that our dentists examine your mouth every six months to detect these problems.
The cleaning portion of the appointment is just as important in the long run. Daily brushing and flossing can disrupt plaque, but once it hardens into calculus, only your dental hygienist or dentist in Richardson can remove it. Plaque and calculus both contain dangerous bacteria that can contribute to gum disease and tooth decay, so it’s critical that you get these harmful substances removed at least twice a year.