When was the last time you visited your dentist? If it has been longer than you care to admit, a cleaning and examination may be in your future. By prioritizing a preventive attitude toward oral health, you prevent damage to your smile from occurring instead of reacting to it later. While we provide a variety of services to help treat active oral concerns, we prefer to help you maintain a healthy mouth free of disease in the first place. Each time you attend a cleaning, you receive professional care beyond what you can provide yourself at home. We have special tools to remove calcified tartar deposits that stick to the surface of your teeth. When you make a habit of returning regularly, we create a dental record that can quickly identify any abrupt changes to the state of your smile.
At your Ankeny, IA, dental practice, we look forward to meeting with you at least twice per year to keep your smile in tip-top shape. This combines regular cleanings with your daily at-home practices to give you the best chance at preventing cavities and gum disease. When we examine your teeth regularly, we can detect problems that do appear early in their existence. This can lead to more conservative treatments that preserve a majority of your healthy materials. When you understand the benefits of preventive oral care, you can look forward to your next dentist visit.
How Tooth Decay Builds In Your Smile
When teeth are healthy, their protective enamel layer takes the pressure off your bite and prevents oral bacteria from accessing more sensitive inner tissues. To protect this strongest material in the human body, brushing and flossing removes bacterial plaque deposits that gather on and between teeth. However, neglecting your oral hygiene allows these deposits to feed on debris from your meals, producing an acidic waste product that harms the enamel and irritates your gums. This process eventually leads to permanent holes in the tooth’s surface, or decay that must be treated at your next appointment.
Attending Your Checkup
When you visit your dentist every six months, we will perform a cleaning and examination to maintain your healthy smile. Your hygienist will remove all foreign material from your teeth to protect against future tooth decay. If we identify any active threats at this time, we will schedule additional procedures to help heal your mouth. For example, if we see cavities, we may suggest removing them at that very appointment and placing a filling to preserve your healthy tooth.
Speak With Your Ankeny, IA, Dentist About Scheduling A Cleaning And Checkup
If you would like to find out more about our preventive dental services, please contact our Ankeny, IA, dentist’s office at (515) 207-6182 to schedule a visit.
