Oral hygiene

Professional oral hygiene involves procedures carried out in the oral cavity: removal of dental plaque and calculus, using various applications (e.g. fluoride varnish application), polishing the surfaces of teeth and fillings. In the clinic “Dantų harmonija – Dental Harmony” patients are also shown how to practise good oral hygiene at home, that is how to properly take care of your teeth on a daily basis, what products to use in order to maintain good oral health.

Personal oral hygiene involves daily oral care using a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss or an interdental toothbrush or other products. Proper regular oral care is essential if you wish your mouth to be free of caries or periodontal disease.

Why do we need a professional oral hygiene?

Most of us dedicate far too little time to our oral hygiene due to our busy schedules or some other reasons. Besides, daily dental care at home does not help everybody to fully protect their teeth.

Professional oral hygiene is needed for the following reasons:

1. Not all plaque can be removed using a tooth brush. If not removed regularly on a daily basis, plaque hardens and turns into calculus. Calculus is an ideal place for bacteria to accumulate, which leads to dental caries, gingival and periodontal diseases.
2. Accumulated calculus can be seen with the naked eye. Pigment substances penetrate into plaque and calculus and the colour of the teeth may become darker a few shades. Bad breath may appear too.
3. Poor oral care creates a favourable environment for the development of infections. Clinical research over the last few decades shows that inflammation of the gums may cause diabetes and heart diseases.

How often should we have a professional oral hygiene carried out?

Every person is usually recommended to have professional cleaning done at least once or twice a year. The length of intervals between procedures depends on how quickly dental calculus accumulates and the patient’s overall oral health and oral hygiene habits.

If calculus or pigment stains accumulate faster (because of smoking or frequent use of colouring foods or drinks)  or the person suffers from periodontal disease, it is highly recommended to visit a dental hygienist more often, that is every 3-4 months.

Oral hygiene procedure: how is it carried out?

At “Dantų harmonija – Dental Harmony” modern methods and equipment are used to remove both soft plaque and hard calculus. The standard oral hygiene procedure takes about 30–60 minutes.

This is how the procedure carried out step-by-step:

1. At the clinic “Dantų harmonija – Dental Harmony” the oral hygiene procedure is performed using an ultrasonic scaler. During the procedure plaque and calculus are removed using special instruments called curettes.
2. Pigment stains which form because of smoking or excessive use of tea or coffee are removed using the AIR-FLOW system. *
3. After the plaque and calculus have been removed, the teeth are polished using special paste and rubber cups/finishers.
4. If the oral hygienist notices that the teeth have not been looked after properly, the patient is explained about the importance of dental care, the most appropriate oral care products are suggested to the patient in order to prevent both caries and periodontal disease.
5. During the professional oral hygiene procedure not only is the patient’s overall oral health improved (reduced bleeding and swelling, the refreshed oral cavity), but existing or potential periodontal diseases as well as tooth decay are identified. In such cases the patient is immediately recommended special care or treatment.

*If the patient’s teeth are very sensitive (for example, exposed roots), the procedure can be performed under a local anaesthetic.

*The abrasiveness of powder (roughness) is chosen according to the patient’s individual situation. Veneers, crowns and other prosthetic restorations are polished using glycine powder, the finest powder used in dentistry.

Oral hygiene for children

Parents should be responsible for their children’s oral hygiene until they learn to write. A young kid’s hand movements are not sufficiently coordinated; therefore, he or she is not able to brush their teeth properly.

How to help your children develop good oral hygiene practices?

Recommendations regarding children’s oral care at home:

• Although the parents should help their children clean their teeth until the age of 6-7, we suggest you should let your child use the toothbrush himself/herself first and only then finish the procedure yourselves.
• Not only are the toothbrush and toothpaste used to clean children’s teeth,  but interdental toothbrushes and dental floss should be used as well.
• Allow your child himself/herself to choose a toothbrush and toothpaste. Attractive tools with favourite characters from famous animation films or fairy tales may turn the teeth cleaning process into an enjoyable activity.
• Suggest cleaning the teeth of one of your child’s favourite toys.
• Clean your teeth together: little kids tend to copy their parents.
• While brushing your child’s teeth, move the toothbrush slowly and calmly in order to show your kid that it is a simple and painless procedure.

If you yourself are not sure how to brush teeth properly, visit your dentist, who will explain what oral care products to use and how.

Please note that professional oral hygiene is very important for children wearing braces.

Professional oral hygiene while wearing braces

Quite often after the removal of braces white spots can be seen.  These white spots appear as a result of initial enamel demineralisation and start developing below the hard enamel surface. They might develop into caries over time. The main factors causing the appearance of white spots are improper oral hygiene and the excessive consumption of foods or drinks containing too many carbohydrates, acidic or sweet substances.

Fortunately, white spots can be avoided by properly brushing your teeth (practising good daily oral care) along with regular visits to the professional oral hygienist and the revised eating habits.

After the removal of brackets. Over time the enamel surface under which white spots have formed starts to decay and enamel defects develop, which need to be restored by filling

Good news in dentistry – initial caries treatment without drilling or filling

Along with innovative approaches to caries treatment emerging around the world, the clinic “Dantų harmonija – Dental Harmony” offers you a revolutionary solution here – a micro-invasive caries infiltration system called Icon (DMG Dental, Germany) to address incipient proximal caries and  white spots lesions on smooth surfaces. With the emergence of this new caries infiltration therapy Icon, the demineralised enamel layer can be strengthened and stabilised without drilling. Using this therapy, healthy dental tissues are preserved and just in a single visit the progression of early caries is arrested and white spots on the demineralised enamel are treated.

Driven by enamel capillary forces, a highly fluid resin of low viscosity (the infiltrant) penetrates into the demineralised enamel layer and blocks the paths by which cariogenic acids travel. This way the advance of caries is stopped at a very early stage in both hard-to-reach proximal areas and on smooth teeth surfaces.

The main advantages of the new system:

• There is no need to drill the affected tooth and all the healthy tooth structure is preserved;
• The procedure is painless, it lasts only about 30 – 40 minutes;
• Immediate aesthetic results are achieved as white spots are less visible or disappear completely.

The caries infiltration method with Icon is effective only if initial caries has not advanced farther than the enamel (E1, E2) or the outer third of the dentine (D1). Deeper dentine damage, however, will have to be treated by the traditional filling therapy (D2 and D3).