routine hygienist visit

[scully]

I'm not going to lie. I don't get my teeth cleaned very often, as it actually wears the enamel of the teeth, and I don't see a real reason to get it done if you brush/floss regularly. Getting your teeth "cleaned" is like 6 months of wear on your teeth all at once. I am absolutely neurotic about flossing, brushing, rinsing, and using my waterpik. My teeth look fine and bright, and I never get them cleaned. I also use a mineral restoring toothpaste (Dr Collins), which actually makes my teeth look whiter than using bleaching agents that cause sensitivity.

Once in a while I will go into the hygenist to get the slight calcus buildup scraped off the backs of my lower teeth, but that's the only accumulation I notice that really needs to be taken care of. I only get that done every year or every other year. My ortho always gushes about how clean my teeth are, so I assume I'm not doing anything wrong.

To keep my ceramic brackets bright, I rinse with a whitening peroxide rinse to remove surface stains from coffee, tea, etc.

[scully]

I go for a cleaning every 3 months since my braces went on. So 4 times a year. 2 of those times is a checkup with the dentist. They don't remove anything, they just work around everything. You'll be AMAZED at the results. The hygienist said that no matter how well you think you clean with braces, you just can't do as good a job as you do when you don't have braces. So the extra cleanings are needed.

cleaning every three months seems a bit excessive to me. I think if you actually floss, use a waterpik, and brush, you can get your teeth just as clean as if there were no braces there. I'm a total neurotic, so I know my toofs are clean when I go to bed at night! hahaha! I think dentists want us to believe we can't clean our teeth properly without their help. It's all a racket so they make more money.

Anyways... be careful with all the extra cleanings. Along with the tartar, they are scraping off your tooth enamel bit by bit.

[kellyb]

I've never actually had a 'cleaning' done at the dentist before. It's always been to expensive and I've never really felt I needed it enough to shell out the money for it. Now that I have braces I might have to rethink that though.

yes, i really think you need to. blv now is the time when it is more essential than pre- braces

[sirwired]

To an orthodontist, or to the naked eye, or to most patients, "clean" means: "I don't see any cruddy buildup." To a general dentist, a hygienist, or a periodontist, "clean" means: No plaque or tartar above or below the gumline. Tartar above the gumline is unsightly. Tartar below the gumline is not visible, yet can cause irreversible tissue damage.

It's true that not everybody needs cleanings four times a year, or even two. But everybody, no matter how assiduous with their cleaning, needs a check/scrape for tartar below the gumline, and a check for cavities every once in a while.

And scully... where do you get your information that a dental cleaning = six months of tooth wear? Given what happens during a cleaning, I don't see how that would happen. If that were the case, you'd think everybody that got their teeth cleaned regularly would be wearing dentures by 50. And who knows how fast the teeth of 4 x year perio patients would fall out.

[kellyb]

I go for a cleaning every 3 months since my braces went on. So 4 times a year. 2 of those times is a checkup with the dentist. They don't remove anything, they just work around everything. You'll be AMAZED at the results. The hygienist said that no matter how well you think you clean with braces, you just can't do as good a job as you do when you don't have braces. So the extra cleanings are needed.

cleaning every three months seems a bit excessive to me. I think if you actually floss, use a waterpik, and brush, you can get your teeth just as clean as if there were no braces there. I'm a total neurotic, so I know my toofs are clean when I go to bed at night! hahaha! I think dentists want us to believe we can't clean our teeth properly without their help. It's all a racket so they make more money.

Anyways... be careful with all the extra cleanings. Along with the tartar, they are scraping off your tooth enamel bit by bit.

i will listen to my dentist and my ortho on this one, afterall, they are the experts. if it was putting me in as much danger as you say, i am sure the dentist/ortho would not be advising me to do it. the extra money it will cost me to get them cleaned is minimal when compared to the cost it can prevent in the future if i don't take care of my teeth.

[luchababe]

It was recommended to me to come in the extra times for cleaning. I mean, they're are professionals doing the cleaning, they're not going to take off what doesn't need taking off. I just find that I get more staining with the braces on than I ever did without them. I can totally see a difference in the mirror before and after the cleaning. I get plaque build up under any bumpers I wear and around certain teeth as they move. If you think about it, as teeth move, surfaces that weren't accessible before are now able to be cleaned. Like moving the couch to vacuum underneath. The last cleaning only took about 15 minutes but there were definitely some trouble spots I wanted taken care off. As long as you trust your dentist/ortho's advice about cleaning then do whatever you feel comfortable with.

[scully]

It was my dentist that warned against polishing. I see nothing wrong with the scraping part once a year or even twice. She is very conservative and says it does put undue wear on the teeth, as does using very abrasive toothpaste... She said 6 months of wear, but that might have been an exaggeration on her part. I'm sure there is no way to tell affirmatively how much wear it does create. I do know that my teeth feel more sensitive after a serious cleaning with the polishing and all that, which was part of the reason I opt to skip the polishing part, aside from my dentist's advice.