All of us will regularly build-up a layer of tartar on our teeth, some people will get a bigger build-up than others, but everyone should have a regular professional clean. Your dentist will recommend how often you should see the hygienist.

What is a hygienist?

Why should I see a hygienist?

Dentists advise seeing the hygienist as she/he has been specially trained to carry out scaling and polishing and can spend longer with you. They are also highly experienced at showing you how to look after your teeth and gums. In some cases, you will need a number of appointments with the hygienist to get the gums healthy ready for the dentist to restore the teeth with crowns, implants or fillings.

What are the benefits of a professional clean with the hygienist?

-       Healthier teeth and gums

-       Fresher breath

-       Higher success of dental treatments such as veneers, implants, teeth straightening etc

-       Positive effects on your general health

How can a hygienist visit benefit my general health?

Recent research has found a link between gum disease and heart disease. Scientists have found that bacteria responsible for gum disease could travel in your bloodstream and potentially harm your heart.

What are the signs of gum disease?

-       Gum bleeding

-       Gum swelling

-       Purple-red gums

-       Bad breath

Gum disease at the early stages can be reversed without permanent damage to your bone and gums. If gum disease progresses then the damage will be permanent and gums and bone around the teeth will shrink eventually causing teeth to become loose and potentially fall out.

If you suffer from bad breath (halitosis), you should know that you are not alone. Bad breath is a very
common problem and there are many different causes.
Bad breath can be caused by bacteria that accumulate on the back of the tongue and between the teeth. Regular brushing and
flossing help to get rid of food particles, and can also help to prevent bleeding gums. Regular examinations will allow our dentist to identify any areas where plaque is caught between your teeth and our  hygienist will also show you the best way
to clean your teeth, gums and tongue.

We recommend different hygiene programmes to our patients depending on their needs, patient who tend to accumulate plaque more easily see our hygienist every 3 months, whilst those who have less build up come every 6 months.

We are also proud to be able to provide the latest technologies to our patients as we use the best products on the market to achieve optimal results

Unfortunately, gum disease is very common among the population. Most people are not aware of suffering from this condition.

We get many new patients coming from Nottingham, Derby and Leicester wanting to improve the appearance of their teeth. Sometimes, our new patients are not aware of having gum disease and we stress the importance of treating this prior to starting cosmetic treatment. Gums are the foundation to our teeth, so to have beautiful teeth, we need healthy gums.

Treatment of severe gum disease, ie periodontitis, involves the following stages:

- initial appointment with the hygienist to assess the extent of the gum disease and to give oral hygiene instructions for excellent home maintenance

- 2-3 more appointments for root planing, ie deep cleaning, which aims at removing bacteria and toxins on the roots of the teeth,

- we then leave the gums to heal for 3 months and we then reassess the situation

we always stress the importance of having regular professional cleans, but we also highlight to our patients that home maintenance is just as important.

everyone should see the hygienist on a regular basis