Gum disease can be a serious pain, and even if it’s just a mild case of gingivitis, you shouldn’t wait any longer to get treated. At Dentist of Long Beach, our deep teeth cleaning treatment can help restore your smile in no time and make sure it continues to stay healthy.
Deep cleanings are a little different from your routine cleanings. They’re meant to remove tartar from those tricky areas that even those standard teeth cleanings aren’t designed to reach: below the gumline, in the “pockets” surrounding your teeth below the gums, and sometimes even as deep as the teeth’s roots themselves.
At Dentist of Long Beach, we use a technique called periodontal scaling and root planing (also known as SRP) to remove this tough, harder-to-reach buildup. While the name might sound a little intimidating, it’s essentially just scraping off the tartar. In the case that tartar can’t be removed through manual scraping, an ultrasonic removal device might be necessary.
Routine teeth cleanings are primarily preventative care, while deep teeth cleanings and periodontal maintenance are meant to take care of existing problems with your oral health and stop them from advancing further. For a patient with an existing case of gingivitis, we might suggest an initial deep cleaning to establish a baseline of treatment that can then be followed up by regular periodontal cleanings.
Deep teeth cleanings are the mouth’s first line of defense against serious cases of periodontal (gum) disease. Some symptoms of gum disease can include:
Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is an infection that can cause serious damage to your gums’ soft tissue and immune system as a whole, even potentially leading to tooth and bone loss if left untreated. Most of the time, it starts with simply plaque buildup, which can harden into tartar if it remains on your teeth without being cleaned off. Tartar forms an environment that allows bacteria to grow unchecked, and these bacteria will release toxins that irritate and inflame the gums in a condition known as gingivitis.
The longer tartar stays on your teeth, the more damaging it will be. While gingivitis is the mildest form of gum disease and can usually be reversed with professional treatment followed by thorough home care, an untreated case can progress into full-blown periodontitis as the spaces between your gums deepen and accumulate more bacteria.
While everyone’s oral health is different, some of these factors can put you at greater risk for developing periodontal disease:
Before the procedure begins, your dentist will examine your teeth and review an X-ray that will let them know exactly what’s going on inside your mouth and give them a better idea of what areas require the most focus. They’ll also use a special probe that can measure the depths of your gum pockets and determine if you have gingivitis or periodontitis.
After the preliminary examination, a local anesthetic will be applied to your gums to make sure you won’t feel any pain during the scaling process. Your mouth will be cleaned one “quadrant” (bottom left, top right etc.) at a time. Depending on how extensive your treatment needs are, we might only clean one or two quadrants during a given appointment and ask you to come in again to treat the other areas.
Even if you have particularly sensitive teeth and/or a more severe case of gum disease, there’s no need to panic. At Dentist of Long Beach, we administer a local anesthetic that numbs the area around your gums. While some mild soreness might linger after the anesthetic wears off, this is completely normal. If you’re still experiencing pain after your deep teeth cleaning, don’t hesitate to call our office.
Because deep teeth cleanings involve more extensive treatment and the usage of a local anesthetic, they’re a little more expensive than routine teeth and periodontal cleanings. The cost can range from $150 to $250 per quadrant of the mouth that requires treatment, but dental insurance will typically cover a portion of these costs. We’re also happy to work with you to put together a treatment plan that’ll allow you to spread out these expenses over multiple visits, rather than requiring a single payment upfront!
Don’t Wait To Get Your Smile Back!
A deep teeth cleaning can stop gum disease in its tracks before it becomes serious. If you think this treatment might be the right choice for you, call our office at (562) 373-0026 to learn more or schedule an appointment.
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