Dental Cleanings
Dental Cleanings
What’s the Big Deal about a Cleaning? Letter from The Doc
To our Patients,
Thank you for choosing Summerville Pediatric Dentistry. We are so excited to begin your dental journey together and we want to assure you that in our office, VALUE is of the utmost importance. We hope you will find that our office offers a fun and unique environment that provides the most proactive child-friendly team available in dental care.
It occurred to me that we, the dentists, sometimes fall short at showing patients what we offer and why it is of value to our patients and their parents.
This thought then occurred to me: "Why should anyone pay for their child's cleaning appointment? Why is it worth $200-300?” Well, I’d love to answer that question.
It's not about the individual visit. It’s not only about flossing and polishing teeth or getting to check out the treasure chest. The dental cleaning appointment is a GREAT time to establish the value of routine dental care. It's not just the one visit that creates value, it is the lifetime of positive experiences for a young patient so that going the dentist is not something they fear or dread as an adult. It's about giving the kids and their parents an overwhelmingly positive experience at the dentist so that they head into their adult lives unafraid of dental care. It's about teaching them how to care for their oral health and why. It's about their future health- less risk of inflammatory processes like diabetes and heart disease. It's about the relationships we form and the trust they will have in dental professionals their entire lives.
It's so much more than "just a cleaning."
Thank you for giving me a moment to instill a little value into the perception of "just a cleaning".
It is so important that you, our patients, LOVE going to the dentist!
If at any point, we fail to meet this goal, we will do everything we can to address it!
Welcome to our practice!
Dorothy Baker, DMD
What is a Dental Cleaning?
The primary goal of a dental cleaning is to remove plaque, stain, and calculus (tartar) from a patient’s teeth. Dental cleanings are recommended every 6 months, even for infants and children. Patients with braces, extreme anxiety, or sensory challenges, or who experience difficulty in brushing may benefit from more frequent cleanings.
Preventative Oral Hygiene Instruction
We love learning, and we love teaching! At each visit, our team assesses the healthy of your child’s tissue and how well they are brushing. Often, children need assistance brushing, even if they have a more “independent” personality. A good rule of thumb is that until a child can either tie their shoe or write in cursive, they still need assistance brushing. The clinical team will discuss proper brushing and flossing techniques and discuss good nutritional habits with your child. This is called Oral Hygiene Instruction. This is a complimentary service we provide as part of a routine dental cleaning.
Disclosing Tablets can be used as a learning aide for both parents and children, which is a washable stain that indicates the presence of plaque on teeth after 72 hours. Often parents and kids alike are surprised to find that they are not brushing as thoroughly as they thought, so by correcting techniques we can stop cavities before they start!
Disclosing tablets are chewable tablets that show where plaque has accumulated on the teeth. They contain a harmless vegetable dye that stains the plaque a bright pink color. We will discuss your child’s teeth during their cleaning and show them where they are missing. Then we will give you some samples to take home. It is recommended that they be used every 3-4 days to clearly display the areas that are being missed. When the child brushes all the stain off, they learn better brushing techniques!
Steps for Using Disclosing Tablets: (You can also purchase these online!)
- Wait until you’re home for the day.
- Brush your teeth.
- Chew a tablet.
- Look for areas you are missing with your toothbrush.
- Brush your teeth again. Practice makes perfect!