Dental Cleanings

Routine dental cleanings are important to maintaining good oral hygiene. Professional cleaning by a hygienist can remove mineralized plaque that may develop even with careful brushing and flossing, particularly in areas that are difficult to reach. It is recommended you go in for a cleaning once every six months.

How it's done
You can expect your dental cleaning visit to be 45 minutes to one hour. Our trained hygienist  will do the cleaning, and Dr Pike will come in for an exam at the end. Most people find that dental cleanings are painless, and do not cause any discomfort.

There are two important steps to a dental cleaning. The first step is scaling the teeth, whereby the hygienist will remove the plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces. This can be performed by hand or with an ultrasonic scaler(s). The hygienist will also clean into the pockets of the gums to remove any plaque buildup there.

The second step is polishing to remove any final plaque and polish the teeth. Polishers generally have several different sized heads to clean hard to reach places.