Oral hygiene

We recommend that everyone come in for professional teeth cleaning at least once or twice a year. The frequency depends on the intensity of tartar accumulation, the time and attention you devote to dental care, and the clinical situation in your mouth. If tartar or pigmented plaque accumulate more quickly in your mouth (due to smoking or frequent consumption of foods and beverages that stain) or if you suffer from periodontal diseases, we suggest coming in more often –every three or four months.

Signs of gingivitis and periodontal disease:

• Redness of the gums.
• Swollen gums.
• Bleeding gums.
• Gum pain.
• Discolouration of the gums.

First we remove soft and hard plaque using modern systems and equipment. Professional teeth cleaning normally takes from 30 minutes to an hour.

Learn more about the professional teeth cleaning procedure:

• At the clinic, we perform professional teeth cleaning with an ultrasonic scaler. During the procedure, we remove plaque from the surface of the teeth with special instruments – curettes.*
• Using the Air-Flow® system,** we remove the pigmented plaque that forms if you smoke or drink a lot of coffee or tea.
• After cleaning the plaque and removing the tartar, we polish the teeth with a special paste and brushes or polishers.
• If we notice that you are not taking care of your teeth properly, we explain the importance of dental care and individually select oral care products for the prevention of caries and periodontal diseases.
• A professional teeth cleaning not only improves your overall oral health (less bleeding and swelling, the oral cavity is revitalised) – it also gives us a chance to diagnose existing or potential periodontal diseases and carious dental lesions. In this case, we will immediately recommend special care or treatment for you.

*If your teeth are extremely sensitive (if you have wedge-shaped defects or exposed tooth roots), we recommend having the procedure with anaesthesia.

**We select the abrasiveness (roughness) of the powder according to your individual situation. We clean veneer, crowns and screw-on full-jaw dental structures with the softest glycine powder.

If you are a parent, you should introduce oral hygiene by the age of six or seven, when your child learns to write. In Lithuania, more than 90% of six-year-olds have carious lesions. Small children have poor hand coordination, making it difficult for them to brush their teeth.

How can I make oral care a habit for my children?

• Although you should take care of your children’s teeth up to the age of six or seven, teach them to use a toothbrush immediately – let them brush their teeth, but finish doing it yourself.
• To clean your children’s teeth, use a toothbrush and toothpaste, as well as interdental brushes and floss. We recommend using a toothbrush with a round head.
• Let your children choose their own brush and toothpaste. Nice tools with their favourite characters from cartoons or fairy tales will make brushing their teeth a fun game.
• If your child has a doll, suggest you brush the doll’s teeth.
• Brush your teeth together – young children tend to imitate their parents.
• When brushing a child’s teeth, move the toothbrush in calm, slow movements so that the child understands that this is a very simple and painless procedure.

If you yourself do not have enough information about the correct teeth cleaning process, contact us. We will explain how to do it and what tools to use.

Keep in mind that professional teeth cleaning is especially important for children who wear braces.

It is not uncommon to see “white spots” after removing braces. This is early-stage dental demineralisation under the hard enamel surface, which can eventually develop into caries. White spots can be caused by improper oral hygiene or frequent consumption of carbohydrates, acidic foods, or carbonated and sweet beverages. These spots can be avoided more easily if you brush your teeth thoroughly, come in for professional teeth cleaning, and adjust your eating habits.

At our clinic, we offer advanced microinvasive treatment of initial interdental caries and white spots using the Icon caries infiltration system (DMG Dental, Germany). During the very first session, we will stop the spread of caries and white spots while preserving healthy dental tissues.

The main advantages of the new system are:

• A tooth damaged by caries does not need to be drilled, so we can preserve all of the healthy dental tissues.
  The procedure is simple and painless and takes 30-40 minutes.
  You will see the aesthetic outcome immediately. During the very first appointment, we will stop the spread of early-stage (initial) caries and eliminate the white spots caused by enamel demineralisation, which cannot be removed by preventive measures.

Efficacy of the procedure, research.

The Icon caries infiltration system is effective. One study revealed that the clinical efficacy rate after Icon application was 89% compared to a control group that only received preventive fluoride therapy.

• The first group received the caries infiltration system and individual preventive measures (fluorine therapy). Three years later, only one in 24 individuals needed invasive caries treatment, i.e. filling.
• In the second group, which only received fluoride therapy, 11 out of 24 individuals needed caries treatment.

This study confirmed that the treatment of interdental caries is significantly more effective when we use infiltrative caries treatment therapy together with individual caries preventive measures.

The course of the procedure.

The Icon system is effective when initial caries has damaged enamel (E1, E2) and the outer third of the dentine (D1). We treat deeper dentine lesions (D2 and D3) by filling the teeth.

• During the procedure, the first thing we do is isolate the teeth with a dental dam system, and if we are treating interdental caries, we insert pins.
• We then apply a special substance to the surface of the tooth, which opens the pores of the damaged enamel. After washing the treated tooth surfaces with ethanol and drying them with an air stream, we apply a liquid composite resin with high permeability to the tooth.
• By way of capillary action, the open pores of the enamel “absorb” the liquid resin, which is then cured with light. In this way, we strengthen the de mineralised layer of tooth enamel and stop the penetration of caries into the deeper dental tissues.
• With deeper lesions, the procedure may have to be repeated.
• You will see the result immediately after the procedure. White enamel spots disappear or become blurred.

What should I do after a professional teeth cleaning?

Individual oral hygiene tools. After a professional teeth cleaning, replace your old dental care products (toothbrush, interdental brush, interdental pick, etc.) with new ones.

Eating. Do not eat for one hour after the procedure. If you had anaesthesia, do not eat until the numbness wears off to avoid injuring your cheeks and tongue. On the day you are scheduled for tooth polishing with toothpaste or air abrasion (Air-Flow®), avoid pigmented foods and beverages (beetroot, berries, fresh squeezed juice, coffee, black tea, red wine). If we apply fluoride to prevent tooth decay and tooth sensitivity, avoid dairy products for 24 hours. The calcium ions in them react with fluoride ions and will reduce the efficacy of the fluorides.

Smoking. Do not smoke after the procedure. This can impair gum healing.
Individual oral hygiene. Follow all of the instructions we give you.

Pain relief. After a professional teeth cleaning, you may feel mild sensitivity of the gums for a few hours. Only take pain killers as prescribed by your doctor. In order to relieve gum irritation, use a rinse with Chlorheksidino twice daily, but only for two or three days.

Tooth sensitivity. For a few days after the procedure, your teeth may be slightly more sensitive to hot and cold stimuli.

Rinsing. After a professional teeth cleaning, use a rinse with Chlorheksidino twice daily, but for no more than two weeks.

Your next appointment. Come at the scheduled time. Have preventive professional teeth cleaning once or twice a year. In case of more severe pathology – three to five times a year.

If you develop stomatitis, aphthous stomatitis, cracked lips, frenulum abrasion, allergic reactions (itching or swelling of the lips), call our clinic and we will set up an examination.