Attending for a Dental Hygiene Visit (Private)

Most modern practices will have a dental hygienist or therapist who works with your dentist to ensure that you are looking after your teeth properly. The role of the dental hygienist is to monitor your rate of gum disease, to treat the condition and recommend steps that you yourself can take to avoid serious dental work in the future. So it is very much in your interest to listen to what they have to say.

Dental Hygienist treatments at this practice are only Private. At your hygiene visit the dental hygienist-therapist, will begin with assessing the state of your gums. They will then scale and polish your teeth and roots, during which the plaque and calculus (tartar) are removed. To avoid it being uncomfortable, some people prefer to have local anaesthetic to numb the gums so they don’t feel it. To begin with you may need several visits if the gums are in poor condition. After the course of treatment it is usual to see the hygienist regularly to maintain optimum gum health.

You will be given advice from your hygienist which will involve recommendations on how you can avoid plaque and calculus building up including different ways to clean your mouth and teeth, also possibly giving up smoking and making changes to your diet. It is vitally important that you follow this advice otherwise you could end up losing many of your teeth.

You should have a long term strategy which will also be discussed with you.

© Butt Lane Dental Surgery