What You Can Learn From an Oral Cleaning in Our Palm Desert Dental Office

At our Palm Desert dental office, we recommend receiving an oral cleaning twice per year. This is necessary for preventing both cavities and gum disease. Even if you brush and floss throughout the day, it is difficult to remove plaque from all areas of the mouth, especially if you have crooked teeth. Professional teeth cleanings can close the gaps by removing the plaque that has built up over time and giving you a total clean. During these appointments, we also emphasize education, because we are confident that educated patients are more likely to maintain good oral health.

Here are a few things you can expect to learn when visiting our dental office for an oral cleaning:

How to brush properly. While most people brush their teeth, few do it correctly. Teeth must be brushed for two minutes at a time or longer if they are still not clean. The brush should move in a circular pattern, starting at the gum line and working toward the center of the mouth. You want to try and spend 30 seconds on each quadrant of the mouth.

Flossing. We can show you how to floss correctly when you come in for an oral cleaning. When you floss, it is important that you reach in between your teeth, but all the way down to between your teeth and gums. The main goal of flossing is to prevent gum disease, and if you only do it halfway, you will be missing out on some of the key prevention benefits.

Discussions on enamel. The outside layer of your teeth is made up of enamel. This hard outer layer is there to protect your teeth from damage and from sensitivity. It is what allows you to eat, drink, and speak without feeling irritation caused by something touching the nerves inside your teeth. Without your enamel in place, you could experience lifelong sensitivity. The challenge is that the food we eat and what we drink can cause the enamel on our teeth to erode or wear away. In our dental office, we will take the time to discuss the pH levels in various foods and drinks, so you can avoid things that could possibly lead to erosion.

Healthy eating. In our dental office, we understand the importance of a healthy diet. You need to eat a diet that is well-rounded and contains lean protein, dairy, nuts, green vegetables, and crunchy vegetables to protect and strengthen your teeth. A healthy diet like this can actually remineralize your teeth and make them stronger. This can help combat some of the potential erosion from unhealthy eating and drinking. By providing you with suggestions, we will encourage you to begin eating a mouth-healthy diet.

When you visit us for an oral cleaning, we will also let you know if we have any concerns that are specifically related to the condition of your teeth. If so, we will work with you to create a plan to address them so you can maintain lifelong oral health.