There’s no denying the fact that you simply can’t keep your teeth and gums as clean as your dentist can. However, you can ward off destructive dental plaque long enough to keep your smile clean and disease-free in between your dental checkups and cleanings. Even if plaque happens to get the best of your hygiene routine and manages to gain a foot hold, its calcified and more stubborn counterpart, called tartar, is no match for our advanced hygiene tools and techniques. Your Astoria dentist, Dr. Leibowitz, examines the different levels of dental cleanings that can be employed to remove the danger from your smile.
Heavy-Duty Teeth Cleaning
Your regular, run-of-the-mill dental cleaning, and the one most people are familiar with, involves removing traces of plaque and tartar from your teeth that you may have missed. The danger of plaque lies in the germs that it carries, which are responsible for the development of tooth decay and gum disease. For oral bacteria, plaque development is continuous, and brushing and flossing helps control its accumulation on and between your teeth. If you miss a spot and it remains for more than 48 hours, it will harden into tartar, which is insoluble and impervious to water and your toothbrush. At your dental cleaning, Dr. Leibowitz will carefully remove plaque and tartar from your teeth using specialized instruments.
Doing Your Gums a Big Favor
When your oral health is especially at risk for disease, extra measures can be taken to protect it from harm. For instance, when plaque works its way underneath your gum line, it irritates your gum tissue and causes it to pull away from your teeth, creating pockets for more germs to hide. A deep (periodontal) cleaning, which is more extensive than a regular dental cleaning, involves carefully removing plaque, tartar, and germs from underneath your gum line, including periodontal pockets. Typically, a scaling and root planing procedure can remove the threat by clearing bacterial plaque from the surfaces of your tooth roots, then smoothing the roots to prevent plaque from adhering to them. If initiated in time, a deep cleaning can often reverse the damage of early gum disease (gingivitis) and allow your gums to heal before the infection can advance into full-blown gum disease.
Dental Cleanings and More at Your Astoria Dentist’s Office
To find out if you could benefit from a deep cleaning, or if it’s been a while since your last dental checkup and cleaning, call us immediately to schedule a dental consultation with Dr. Leibowitz. You can contact our Astoria dentist office by calling (718) 728-8320. Located in the 11106 area, we proudly serve patients from Astoria, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the surrounding communities.
