Undeniably, preventive dental care is the key to a healthy smile. It also helps with proper chewing and digestion of food. Spending on regular dental health check and oral checkup is many times better than spending on treatment of some dental or oral health problem. Knowing what to expect during a dental checkup helps to prepare you for an examination of such a sensitive oral part.
What to Expect During Different Dental Checkups?
Cleaning
Cleaning is the first phase of a dental health check up. Cleaning helps remove tartar, a hard calculus, from upper and lower lines of the gum. Only plaque is removed through regular brushing and flossing of teeth. Tartar is a rigid deposit which only specific dental instruments can remove. At times, dentists use ultrasonic instruments to break larger deposits into small chunks.
Polishing
The next phase of dental checkup is polishing after removal of tartar. In this phase, crowns and surface of the teeth are polished to remove stains. Sometimes, dentists apply an abrasive substance on the surface of teeth using a rotating rubber brush. It makes teeth shine in natural luster by removing all sorts of stains and spots. You will be asked to rinse the polishing substance off the mouth.
Disclosing agent
The dentist or dental hygienist may give you some preventive instructions regarding oral health care at home based on the observations during the dental checkup. The proper manner of brushing and flossing at home may be demonstrated to you. The oral hygienist may use some disclosing agent to check if you brush properly on a daily basis. You may be asked to chew the disclosing agent, which is a red tablet.
It gets stuck to plaque when you chew it and colors plaque so that it can be visible. It makes you see if you have missed any plaque during brushing. Some dentists do not recommend such things because of their tricky use. A disclosing agent may color white filings. That’s why a disclosing agent is mostly recommended to be used during an oral checkup so that the remaining red color can be washed off teeth by a hygienist. You can expect to try a disclosing agent during the dental health check-up at a clinic.
X-ray
X-ray of your teeth may be performed during every visit for a dental checkup if you are undergoing some dental treatment. The frequency of x-ray depends on one’s dental health issues. Some undergo dental x-ray once a year, while some need it every few months. Dentists consider several factors to decide if the x-ray is necessary and safe for you. An x-ray may be expected during a dental checkup by a new doctor or at a new clinic. If you have an x-ray report from the former dentist, make sure to carry it.
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What to Expect During Comprehensive Oral Dental Checkup?
Dental checkup is not just about dental health but the overall oral health. Even minor dental health issues may affect your olfactory and auditory senses. Serious dental health ailments like blisters or lumps on gums may cause oral cancer. The dentist will check not only your teeth but also gums, tongue, and inner walls of the mouth. The dentist is also expected to check overall outside and inside of your mouth, neck and salivary glands for possible symptoms like lip dryness, swellings of cheeks, blisters around the tongue, bleeding of gums, etc. during a comprehensive oral health checkup.
Periodontal Examination
The dentist or dental hygienist may give you some preventive instructions regarding oral health care at home based on the observations during the dental checkup. The proper manner of brushing and flossing at home may be demonstrated to you. The oral hygienist may use some disclosing agent to check if you brush properly on a daily basis. You may be asked to chew the disclosing agent, which is a red tablet.
It gets stuck to plaque when you chew it and colours plaque so that it can be visible. It makes you see if you have missed any plaque during brushing. Some dentists do not recommend such things because of their tricky use. A disclosing agent may colour white filings. That’s why a disclosing agent is mostly recommended to be used during an oral checkup so that the remaining red color can be washed off teeth by a hygienist. You can expect to try a disclosing agent during the dental health checkup at a clinic.
Occlusion
You can expect the dentist to check how fit your teeth and gums are by examining your bites during a dental health check up. He will ask you to bite into a fruit first. If teeth and gums are not found to be fit together, you may be asked to bite into a shape of special wax. Your bite will leave an impression on the wax, which will give an index to how fit your teeth are. This sort of dental examination is called Occlusion.
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