Prophylaxis

Preventing oral disease is better than waiting until you have a serious problem.

The frequency of routine dental visits should be based on individual need – some people will need to see the dentist more often than others, at least once every 12 months.

More frequent visits may be necessary for persons at increased risk for oral diseases due to age, pregnancy, tobacco and alcohol use, periodontal disease, poor oral hygiene, and health conditions.

Your dentist or dental hygienist can help you determine how often you should have your teeth cleaned.

 

Prophylaxis Treatment

The once or twice a year appointment with the dental hygienist usually consists of:

  • Oral hygiene instructions Tooth brushing and flossing instructions, nutritional counseling
  • Examination Oral cancer examination and screening - cheek biting, chewing and swallowing patterns - Evaluation of your gum tissue and bone
  • Control for tooth decay x-rays, examining the teeth to detect decay.
  • Removal of tartar manually or also by machine (EMS/air scaling)
  • Cleaning and Polishing
  • Fluoride treatments

 

Periodontal Treatment

The difference between periodontal disease and periodontitis should be clarified before continuing.

Periodontal disease is a broad term that encompasses all sorts of conditions of the gums and supporting bone, including gingivitis and periodontal abscesses.

Periodontitis is a severe form of periodontal disease, which involves bone loss around the teeth. This is important to understand because bone is necessary to anchor the teeth into the jawbone. If left untreated, bone loss will continue until the teeth eventually become loose and need to be removed.

Periodontitis treatments need more time and often use antibiotics in combination with other treatments, to help get rid of bacteria. Studies show that taking antibiotics after deep scaling and root planning reduces the need for surgery.

Probing depth
 
Pocket depth index
clinical attachment level
 
 
deep scaling
 
Removal of plaque and tartar on the root surface
root planing
 
planing of root surface
antibiotics
 
local or systemic antibiotics

 

 

 

Fluoride Prophylaxis

Topical application of fluoride has three important functions to help preserve dental health:

  1. remineralization
  2. preventing decay of the enamel caused by acid
  3. inhibits the metabolism of plaque bacterial

Tooth decay can be prevented through the use of fluorides, either by topical application in toothpastes or a fluoride mouthrince, but also via systemic absorption (through salt, water or fluoride tablets).

 

Halitosis


Foetor ex ore or Halitosis, in medical technical language, means bad breath or breath odor. Bad breath can be caused by the consumption of alcohol or smoking. Clinically, the presence is determined by pungent, foul-smelling sulfur connections in the breath with the nose and with a Halimeter (measuring instrument). An exact differentiation of the smell of the breathing air (Halite) is in most cases not possible without the use of special equipment.

Etiology: The mouth odor can develop at different places. The origin of the odor should be carefully determined.

Oral causes:
Tongue (60%)
periodontal

Ear, nose, and throat related causes:
sinus
tonsils: throat

 

X-ray`s

X-ray’s are used in the dental office for examination and diagnosis purposes which are very important.

If you have had x-ray’s taken in the past 12 month, it would be helpful to bring them with you.

  • single x-ray
  • bite-wings
  • Orthopantomography