Hygienist Treatments
Dental hygienists are dental care professionals who work as part of the dental team. Their role is to give treatment and advice to help ensure that you have a healthy mouth. As well as helping to keep your teeth clean and in good condition, a hygienist can carry out assessment and monitoring of your oral health.
Please be aware that during the current pandemic, in the interest of safety, our hygienists will be undertaking handscaling (with minimal polishing) only in order to avoid the creation of an aerosol in the room.
Good dental hygiene can prevent many of the causes of gum disease. Plaque can harden on your teeth to form calculus (tartar), a hard mineral build up which gives your teeth a yellow or brown colour.
Calculus can also form at or underneath the gum line, causing irritation to the gums.
The hygienist will clean your teeth by scaling and polishing. Early gum disease (gingivitis) is identified in approximately 90% of all people. This can be treated by removing (soft) plaque and (hard) calculus from the teeth with special instruments. More importantly, our patients are shown methods of preventing the build up of plaque & calculus, so that the risk is reduced and gums are healthier. This preventive aspect of our practice is very important and means that our patients have healthier mouths with less need for treatment.
It is also cheaper to prevent problems before they occur!. This not only removes stains and improves your appearance, but also helps to treat and prevent gum disease. The hygienist will also examine your teeth and record any problems.
The hygienist will remove the tartar using an ultrasonic instrument, and fine hand instruments. The ultrasonic instrument vibrates at high speed, gently dislodging the tartar and washing it away with a fine spray of water.
The hand instruments are designed for the more difficult to reach areas, and are used with a gentle scraping movement. The polish is given with a rotating brush and a special paste. Most people find the process to be pain-free, but talk to your hygienist if you have had problems in the past, or have any worries about the procedure.
Your hygienist will work with you to develop a home care plan for keeping your mouth healthy between visits. If relevant, she will explain how diet and smoking can affect the health of your teeth and develop an oral hygiene regime specific to your needs.
Your hygienist will advise the oral hygiene products best suited to you and demonstrate how to use them to maximum efficiency.
The dentist and hygienist will advise the most suitable interval between appointments for you. Most patients need to attend at 3 to 6 month intervals.
Legislation now allows dental hygienists to carry out their full scope of practice without the need for a prescription from a dentist, this is called ‘Direct Access’. The majority of our hygiene team are happy to offer this service. Patients come to us from other practices with limited hygiene appointments or just when they feel they need an extra clean.
Of course, we strongly recommend that all patients attend regularly for dental examinations and if the hygienist identifies anything that should be referred to a dentist, they will advise you.
