You brush and floss your teeth twice a day, every day—at least we hope you do. You may include additional steps, like mouthwash, using tongue scrapers, and oil pulling, just to name a few.
With such diligence, you may wonder: Is visiting the dentist twice a year for a dental cleaning even necessary? After all, your breath smells fine, your teeth are white, and you don’t have regular toothaches.
The answer is yes—regular visits to the dentist are necessary! Everyone can benefit from a biannual professional teeth cleaning, regardless of the current state of their oral hygiene. Dental cleanings don’t just maintain your oral health, they also help prevent future issues.
Our team at Dogwood Dental Spa is passionate about your dental cleaning near Waxhaw, and by the end of this article, we hope you will be too. We are laying out the benefits and what to expect from these regular dental visits in this blog.
But first, why are we called Dogwood Dental Spa?
A typical dentist’s office hardly feels like a spa. When you think of dental practices, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a cold, sterile environment with harsh sounds and an “antiseptic” smell. A spa, on the other hand, evokes feelings of luxury, relaxation, and pampering. How would these two very different atmospheres fit together?
We understand that dental visits often cause stress and anxiety. While we do our best to keep you at ease through compassionate and personalized care, we also created a welcoming and soothing environment for you to feel comfortable in.
Whether you’ve been diligent or struggling to stay regular with your daily dental practices, we welcome everyone into our judgement-free dental spa, where each patient receives high-quality care and education on the importance of oral hygiene.
We not only provide a peaceful setting and supportive team to reduce stress and anxiety, but we also rely on state-of-the-art technology for effective treatments that prioritize patient comfort.
The Importance of Dental Cleaning
Now that we’ve eased your mind about coming to our spa for a dental cleaning near Waxhaw, let’s talk about the importance of this service. While a dental cleaning can never replace your daily brushing, it does provide additional benefits you just can’t get at home.
Deeper Cleaning Beyond Brushing
Ideally, you could remove dental plaque effectively with your daily cleanings. But realistically, that doesn’t always happen. As a reminder, plaque is a sticky film of bacteria that forms on your teeth after you eat. If left untreated, plaque builds up and eventually hardens into tartar, which only a dentist can remove.
While a regular toothbrush can remove plaque, our hygienists have special tools, like scalers, to remove it from hard-to-reach places in your mouth that your toothbrush may miss, like below the gumline.
Additionally, we can remove surface stains formed by snacks and beverages, like wine, coffee, and chocolate. Although a dental cleaning isn’t necessarily cosmetic dentistry, you can still benefit from some minor teeth-whitening advantages.
Cavity Control
You don’t want to hear about cavities, but we’ll tell you about them anyway. Because as annoying and painful as these holes in your teeth are, they are also very preventable—especially when you visit us twice a year for a dental cleaning near Waxhaw.
Tooth decay, commonly referred to as cavities, can form when acidic plaque builds up on your teeth. This acidic environment causes the primary minerals of your enamel, like calcium and phosphorus, to erode.
At first, you may not even realize you have a cavity, because you won’t feel symptoms when it forms on the outer enamel. But as the tooth decay grows, you may notice bad breath, toothaches, and sensitivity.
With regular dental visits, your hygienist can catch the cavity in the early stages and prevent it, or even reverse it, before it causes problems. At Dogwood Dental Spa, we manage small cavities with Curodont gel to halt the spread of the decay, sparing you from the discomfort of numbing or drilling to fill in the hole. This treatment strengthens and repairs your enamel by attracting minerals from saliva to the affected tooth, remineralizing the area and reversing the tooth decay.
Prevention and Reassurance
When we remove the plaque and tartar from your teeth, we also reduce your risk of developing serious oral health issues. Plaque leads to tartar, which can lead to gum disease, infection, and even tooth loss. If we catch plaque early during a bi-annual dental cleaning near Waxhaw, we reduce the risk of plaque accumulation and issue development.
If you’ve avoided the dentist for a long time, you may fear that you’ll need treatments like a root canal or dental crown. But the sooner you can receive care, the lower your risk of needing surgical dentistry treatment.
With regular dental visits, you can rest assured that your oral health is in good shape, easing the stress and anxiety of dental visits. With time, each visit gets easier and easier.
The Dogwood Dental Spa Process
We want to make your dental cleaning as easy as possible. Whether you’re a new or returning patient, you should always feel welcomed and at ease in our spa. New patients may require a few more steps than returning patients, making their appointment 1.5 hours rather than the usual 1 hour.
Tour of the Office
Instead of taking you straight from the lobby chair to the exam chair, we allow you to acclimate to our space. We will show you around our dental spa and help you find the bathrooms, check-out desks, and your seat for the next 1 to 1.5 hours.
X-Rays
Every new patient starts their dental cleaning near Waxhaw with a set of X-rays. These medical images of your teeth and jaws help us examine the structures we can’t see during a routine checkup. We look at your nerves, tooth roots, sinuses, and jawbone. Every patient needs at least one set of X-rays per year to monitor your dental health below the surface.
Many patients worry about the radiation from these dental images. We want to assure you that while we understand these feelings, you won’t put your health at risk from yearly, or even twice-yearly, X-rays. X-rays emit a very small amount of radiation, far less than your exposure from your daily technological devices like TVs, smartphones, and computers.
Scaling and Polishing
Once we complete the necessary documentation, we start the dental cleaning process. We start with scaling, the process of removing plaque and tartar from your teeth and gums. This handheld curved metal tool allows us to manually scrape away the plaque and tartar buildup.
We know most people don’t find this portion very pleasant. Although you shouldn’t feel pain during this step, the sound can bother patients. We encourage you to bring earplugs or earbuds to use during the scaling process of your dental cleaning near Waxhaw, so you can stay more comfortable.
Once the surface of your tooth is plaque-free, we polish the enamel to remove surface stains. Your teeth should feel smoother than before.
Flossing
Whether you floss daily on your own or not, we still add this step into your dental cleaning to remove plaque and debris between your teeth. We may use this as an opportunity to teach you how to floss properly and educate you on the importance of this dental practice.
Personalized Preventative Treatments
A dental cleaning doesn’t end with the polishing. Depending on your unique oral health needs, we may apply sealants or fluorides to prevent future decay and strengthen your enamel. We communicate with you throughout this process, making sure you understand everything that’s happening.
Exam
Once you have clean teeth, your dentist thoroughly examines your teeth, gums, and the rest of your mouth. This allows us to identify and analyze any external signs of potential concerns and develop a personalized treatment plan for you.
Charting
Once we’ve examined the outer and inner structures of your teeth, we document the health of your teeth and gums. This practice, known as charting, allows us to track your progress with each visit and organize important information about your dental health.
Advice
Each appointment ends with a discussion between you and your provider. They share personalized advice to help you enhance your oral hygiene habits at home and maintain sustainable oral health for years to come.
Depending on the state of your teeth and gums during your dental cleaning near Waxhaw, we may ask you to come back for additional general or restorative dentistry treatments. Please ask us any questions you have, and we can educate you on these services and why we recommend them. We can also discuss cosmetic dentistry options, like clear aligners, veneers, and teeth-whitening services.
Twice a Year Cleanings… But Maybe More
In some cases, we may determine that you would benefit from more frequent visits for dental cleanings. We can discuss your individual timeline during your initial consultation.
Patients who have a history of gum disease, frequent cavities, or orthodontic appliances may benefit from additional cleanings. These appointments also act as check-ups, and they give us chances to examine your overall oral health, keeping your teeth clean, strong, and resilient.
Financial Considerations
We understand: What we see as critical oral health; you see as dollar signs, and a lot of them. Dental care is notorious for accumulating costs, another reason people may feel anxious about frequent dental visits.
We offer various comprehensive, hassle-free membership plans for you and your family, which include cleanings, exams, and additional services with one yearly fee. If you still have concerns about cost, you can check out our financing options through Cherry and RepeatMD, both of which allow you to access care without financial stress.
Smile With Ease at Dogwood Dental Spa
The best way to calm anxieties surrounding oral health is to visit a kind, compassionate team of dentists for a dental cleaning near Waxhaw. It’s not just about giving you a brighter smile, but about preventing disease and decay and protecting your health.
To get started, try our treatment planning tool. Once we receive your submission, a member of our team will reach out with available dental cleaning times.
To start your dental cleaning in person, request an appointment using our online form.
Notice a cracked, broken tooth or a painful toothache? Don’t wait to receive help! Contact our emergency dental line to get immediate assistance and expert care—fast.
