There’s no doubt about it. If you want to maintain a beautiful, healthy smile, you need to keep on top of your oral hygiene. This means adding regular dental hygiene appointments to your dental check-ups so that you can look after your teeth and gums. 

It’s not just about the aesthetics of your smile that you should consider regular visits to a hygienist, although we do take the look of your smile just as seriously as you do. It seems that, actually, more and more adults are losing their teeth to gum disease than tooth decay – and tooth loss is very serious. The consequences of losing your teeth can include altered speech, ineffective mastication, loss of self confidence, anxiety about your appearance, and even feelings of bereavement. 

At Shine Dental Clinic, we do everything that we can to help our patients avoid tooth loss, starting with the recommendation that you scheduled regular hygienist appointments.

Before you do, though, let’s unpack what it is that a dental hygienist (Medstead) does, what happens during an appointment, and answer that aged old question facing many a Brit… how do you improve tea stained teeth? 

What Does a Dental Hygienist Do?

The main objective for a dental hygienist is to prevent gum disease and keep your teeth and mouth in a healthy state. At Shine Dental Clinic, our hygienists work on a case by case basis, evaluating each patients’ dental health before developing a bespoke treatment plan to suit their needs. 

During your appointment, our hygienist will conduct an assessment with you, and barring anything out of the ordinary, start your session with the appropriate first step. Generally speaking, this means starting with a teeth cleaning to remove any plaque and tartar. This treatment is more commonly known as a ‘scale and polish’ or a prophylaxis. 

After your treatments are concluded, our hygienist will provide you with a personalised, detailed home care plan so that you can keep your teeth and gums healthy in between visits.

What You Can Expect From Your Appointment

The first thing you can expect from your appointment with a dental hygienist at Shine Dental Clinic is a thorough evaluation of your teeth, gums, and the skin around your mouth and gums. We also make sure to take a history of your oral health if it is your first time with us. What we’re checking for is any signs of current or previous decay, and, in case there is any, we evaluate the extent of any other dental problems. From there, it’s time to formulate your plan and begin your hygiene session.

We offer 3 different levels of hygiene sessions, including:

The first level: 

We remove plaque and tartar above and below the gum line, and then get to work removing superficial stains through a classic scale and polish treatment, completed with attention to detail and care for your comfort.

The second level: 

We remove stains by air polishing the kinds of difficult to remove stains that are caused by smoking, red wine, and tea and coffee. We’re proud of this simple, yet effective stain removal process because it’s painless, reaches inaccessible places, and makes a fantastic difference to your smile.

Our advanced level:

Sometimes more extensive treatments are required. For instance, if you suffer from severe gingivitis then we may recommend multiple visits to restore gum health through treatments like deep scaling treatment that’s completed under local anesthesia to keep the pain level to an absolute minimum. 

Other times our patients require periodontal treatment for periodontal disease and bone loss, such as laser periodontal therapy and a PerioChip® – a small, thin biodegradable chip inserted between your gum and tooth to kill bacteria and improve healing time. 

Regardless of which treatment that is required, everything we do is to help our patients get rid of and prevent future gum disease and live healthier, happier lives with minimal anxiety and discomfort.

Talk to us Shine Dental Clinic

We can help you tackle any dental health and aesthetic concerns that you may have, so please talk to us about diarising regular check-ups with a dental hygienist (Medstead). Let us help you prevent problems and keep your teeth and smile in the best condition possible.

To book your appointment with Shine Dental Clinic, call us on 01420 550616.