Dental Checkups at St. Leonards Green Dental
Family Scale and Cleans in St. Leonards
Routine checkups are a crucial step in keeping your family’s smiles healthy for life. At St. Leonards Green Dental we encourage our healthy patients to book a scale and clean every six months. This frequency allows us to diagnose needs as early as possible, to offer minimally invasive and therapeutic treatment strategies.
What Happens During Your Checkup?
Scale and Clean — Our Dentist will gently clean your teeth to remove calcified tartar deposits, plaque build-up and polish away superficial stains that have accumulated since your last visit. If you’ve been treated for gum disease, we may recommend more frequent check-ups.
Exam and X-rays — During your routine exam, we’ll assess your smile for wear, early signs of disease, tooth demineralisation and problems like TMJ disorder. Intermittent digital X-rays allow us to see further into your tooth and bone anatomy, locating concerns before obvious clinical symptoms have a chance to develop.
Gum Disease Screening — A periodontal evaluation will pinpoint areas of gum disease, bone loss and tissue recession. If symptoms are evident, we will create a periodontitis care plan to help you eliminate the infection before other teeth are affected.
Oral Cancer Exam — As part of your exam, we will screen for precancerous and suspicious tissues linked to oral cancer. This deadly disease is typically undiagnosed until it has reached dangerously advanced stages. Regular soft tissue evaluations could save your life.
Gum Disease Treatments
Active periodontal disease is closely linked with your overall health and quality of life. If we identify active gum infection, a series of deep cleans (scaling and root planing) will help to halt the infection before it progresses further. Common symptoms include gum recession, tooth mobility, bleeding gums and bad breath.
Gum diseases can increase your risk of cardiovascular health problems (including stroke, heart attack and high blood pressure), diabetes, pneumonia, infertility and others. By eliminating your oral infection and bacterial levels, your overall immune system and body will significantly benefit.
Understanding Periodontitis
Gum disease is a condition that causes your soft gingival tissues and supporting bone to pull away from your teeth. As a result, your teeth lose their foundation and become loose or fall out.
Periodontal disease starts as gingivitis, which is minor inflammation or redness along the gumlines. It’s caused by dental plaque settling just under the gum margin. If it isn’t brushed and flossed away thoroughly each day, these bacteria work their way under the gums, calcifying into tartar and triggering the disease process.
If it’s been a while since your last scale and clean, we may recommend a series of deep cleans (scaling and root planing) to get your smile back where it needs to be. With clean root surfaces, the disease process is halted, and you’ll be able to brush and floss more thoroughly.[/notebox]
SCHEDULE YOUR FAMILY’S NEXT VISIT
Contact us today to request an appointment for your child (and yourself)!
* Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.