Regular cleans are not only to make the teeth look good but also to keep the gums healthy.
What is plaque?
Plaque is the sticky, colourless film that constantly forms on your teeth. A vast range of bacteria live in plaque and secrete acids that cause tooth decay and irritate gum tissue. We recommend regular cleans not only to make your teeth look better, but to keep the gums healthy.
Regular dental cleans at home
Regular cleans and flossing every day at home may help to remove plaque around each tooth, so find a type of floss or perio tape and get into a good habit of daily flossing. Without regular flossing, the pellicle or sticky plaque is left as a residue between the teeth. Use of interdental brushes such as bamboo pixters is also recommended at home.
The pellicle of plaque film provides a surface for more advanced plaque. The advanced plaque secretes acids that cause gum irritation. This is most commonly below the gum layer. The toothbrush may only reach 1mm under the gum, but the advanced plaque accumulates in the deep parts of the gum.
Regular cleans at Dental Pod
Regular cleans at Dental Pod will help to reduce the plaque and calculus around and under your gums. Calculus is a type of hardened plaque. It is due to a combination of plaque and the minerals in saliva and oral secretions. It most commonly occurs on the back of the lower front teeth due to the saliva that comes out from under the tongue. As calculus builds up it also provides an environment for many bacteria. Underneath the gum, the calculus bacterium evolves to destroy the gum by fermenting acids and disrupting the gum blood supply.
At Dental Pod we take care to ensure the deeper parts of the gum are cleaned as well. If this cannot be managed by your regular cleans, you may be referred to a periodontist for specialist gum care.