Do you prioritize regular trips to the dentist for checkups? If it has been more than a year since your last cleaning, we encourage you to adopt a preventive attitude toward your oral care and schedule an exam today. When you combine the efforts of daily brushing and flossing with timely cleanings, you give your smile the care it deserves toward stopping tooth decay and gum disease. Waiting for painful symptoms to occur before calling the dentist often means a concern has been progressing for a long time. But by examining your smile every six months, we can detect issues that you cannot see on your own at home.
At your Ankeny, IA, dental office, we stress the importance of protecting your smile to stop decay before it has a chance to take hold. This means regularly clearing deposits of oral bacteria that can wear away at the enamel on the surface of your teeth. When you take the time to safeguard your smile against common threats, you save big by avoiding the need for restorative treatments down the line.
When Bacteria Destroy Your Smile
When your teeth are healthy, their outer enamel layer protects the sensitive material within from the thousands of strains of bacteria that live within your mouth. By clearing away deposits that oral bacteria form with debris from your meals, you prevent them from wearing down that critical surface layer. Left alone, plaque and tartar produce an acidic waste product that forms permanent cavities in your teeth. This same material irritates the gums to the point of recession as your body’s inflammatory response tries to escape the bacteria.
Your Cleaning And Exam
When you attend your regular cleaning, we provide the expertise necessary to remove all bacterial deposits from the surface of your smile. This includes removing calcified tartar deposits that your brush and floss cannot handle on their own. Regular visits allow us to create a dental record that quickly identifies any abrupt changes in the health of your mouth.
A Treatment For Gum Disease
If we discover a gum infection during your checkup, we will place you on a periodontal maintenance schedule. Performing a scaling and root planing procedure allows us to clean deposits both above and below your gum line by accessing your tooth’s roots. After removing the bacteria below, your gums reattach and your disease symptoms begin to dissipate. While an infection that reaches the bone becomes permanent, regular maintenance can help you preserve your healthy bones and gums.
Talk To Your Ankeny, IA, Dentist About Scheduling Preventive Dental Care
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.
