Professional Cleanings and Preventive Care in Auburn
Keeping your teeth clean and free of plaque helps you enjoy a fresh smile and reduces your risk for decay or other problems. Many patients put off visiting the dentist or neglect to make their routine appointments. However, these cleanings are integral to keeping your teeth for a lifetime. At Balian Family Dental, our preventive approach emphasizes education and regular cleanings, minimizing health concerns before they can develop into more severe problems.
Dr. Balian and his team are dedicated to making sure you and your family enjoy healthy smiles for life. We offer professional exams, preventive services, and education on best practices for oral home-care. For professional and caring dental cleanings, contact Balian Family Dental and schedule your appointment today!
CALL US: (508) 721-7720 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
Why it is Important to Prioritize Dental Cleanings & Exams
Professional preventive routine care is an effective way to help reduce costly dental issues for your family. Aside from brushing and flossing daily, routine cleanings and exams are a few of the best methods of preventive dentistry. Here are some essential reasons to prioritize regular dental care.
- Prevent Tooth Loss: In adults, untreated gum disease is a significant factor contributing to tooth loss, and plaque removal is key to halting this disease. Ignored plaque spreads across your teeth and under the gum line, leaving the jaw bone susceptible to deterioration. Once the bacteria start to attack the bone, teeth can become loose and eventually fall out. Good daily hygiene habits and regular professional cleanings can help prevent gum disease and the damage it can cause.
- Fight Cavities: Bacteria found in plaque is the number one contributor to tooth decay. It shows up as a white film on your teeth and produces acidity, which slowly starts to eat away at your enamel. Cavities will form wherever plaque is left behind, especially in crevices and in between teeth. Routine cleanings help to remove the build-up of plaque and allow us to check for early signs of cavities.
- Brighter Smile: Dental cleanings can help remove stains from coffee, tea, wine, or tobacco, leaving you feeling healthier and more confident about your smile. Additionally, when your teeth are clean, they are smoother, making it harder for damaging bacteria to attach to the surface.
- Better Overall Health: Regular dental cleanings can help protect against advanced gum disease, which can increase the risks of diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Routine dental exams also allow our dentist a chance to detect medical conditions early and increase the likelihood of a successful intervention.
- Save Money: Preventive dentistry is the number one way to help limit costly procedures. By keeping up with your oral health, you can catch dental issues in the early stages and resolve them with less invasive treatments at a more affordable cost.
Tips for Making the Most of Your Daily Oral Care
It is important to understand that your optimal oral health will positively impact the health of your entire body.. Below are some tips for sustaining a healthy and bright smile.
Soft-bristled Toothbrush
Our team recommends choosing a soft-bristled toothbrush that will not damage enamel. Enamel is the outer layer that protects your teeth and is essential to preserve. When enamel weakens, the teeth become sensitive to temperature and pressure and also become fragile. Enamel is the hardest substance produced by the body and made from important minerals. You can help keep your enamel strong by using a good fluoride-enhanced toothpaste and mouthwash.
Flossing
It is essential to floss at least once a day and even better if you can do it after every meal. Food particles can get caught between the teeth, and brushing alone won’t reach those areas. Flossing removes the particles and prevents tooth decay and bad breath. If you can’t floss, at least swish your mouth with water after eating to prevent plaque from developing, especially after eating acidic or sweet foods.
Mouthwash
Mouthwash is a great to add to your routine cleaning. Most brands include fluoride to help build up enamel strength and further protect teeth from decay. Some mouthwashes are medicated and include extra ingredients to assist in keeping your gums healthy and your teeth white.
Prioritize Regular Dental Visits
As trained dental professionals, we can recognize the early signs of cavities and periodontal disease. When you schedule regular appointments with us, we can eliminate plaque build-up and apply fortifying treatments such as fluoride varnish in any areas that look vulnerable. We can treat problems early on and prevent them from progressing into more painful or expensive procedures.
Why Your Diet is Important for Oral Health
A diet high in essential nutrients ensures your teeth and gums remain healthy. Calcium-rich foods encourage healthy bone development. Crunchy fruits and vegetables, such as apples and carrots, provide essential nutrients, and their fibrous texture helps stimulate the gums and smooth away bacterial build-up to help clean your teeth. Cheese and milk products contain protein and calcium; two essential components your body needs to develop healthy enamel.
What NOT to Do
Just as there are behaviors that support oral health, there are also habits that harm your smile. Refined sugar promotes the rapid growth of oral bacteria, which forms plaque and increases your risk of tooth decay and cavities. Tobacco contains nicotine, which reduces your body’s ability to heal from bacterial infection, which increases your risk of gum disease. Alcohol and other drugs also damage your enamel and weaken your overall oral health.
It’s also important to avoid chewing on things that aren’t food like pens, ice, and other hard items. Avoid using teeth as tools for tearing or ripping something open because you can risk fracture or chip your teeth.
How to Care for Your Oral Health at Each Stage of Life
Good oral health is more than a spectacular smile. Each stage of life brings unique conditions, and you need to stay ahead of them, especially as you get older.
Kids
At Balian Family Dental, we begin seeing children by the age of seven. This is a critical stage where they are in the process of losing their baby teeth, and permanent ones are taking their place. Many children can brush, and floss independently, but frequently miss areas or forget altogether. Professional cleanings and exams every six months allow us to get a thorough cleaning done and check for cavities and developmental issues. Dr. Balian can also evaluate your child’s oral development and help determine if orthodontic treatment will be necessary.
Teens
Wisdom teeth, cosmetic issues, and bad breath are just a few of the problems your teenager may be experiencing. Our caring team can help your teen transition through this period successfully and safely by carefully monitoring oral development and providing helpful advice. We encourage teens to exercise proper oral hygiene and show them how they can enjoy a beautiful smile and healthy teeth. What teens learn in this stage sets the tone for becoming an adult who is independent and diligent about their oral health.
Adults
As with all ages, it is still critical to practice proper oral hygiene during this stage of life. In addition to cavities and gum disease, you may experience sensitivity, worn-out restorations, and dull enamel. Dr. Balian can help you revitalize your smile and maintain healthy gums with deep cleanings, porcelain crowns and bridges, and even a take-home whitening kit. As an adult, it is important to focus on keeping your natural teeth and replacing any missing teeth so you can continue to maintain a youthful facial appearance and overall dental health.
Seniors
As we age, there may be other health issues that can affect oral health. Arthritis can make regular brushing and flossing a challenge, and osteoporosis can decrease bone density, causing teeth to become loose. Dr. Balian can help seniors take care of their gums, replace missing teeth, and even improve dry mouth. Keeping up with dental hygiene can help seniors maintain a strong bite that supports a healthy diet and a confident smile.
What to Do for Dental Emergencies and Severe Cases
Balian Family Dental offers emergency services and helps treat extreme cases of gum disease or damaged teeth. We will do whatever we can to address the situation quickly and get you out of pain and back to optimal oral health as soon as possible.
A dental emergency or urgent problems include:
- Weak, fractured or broken tooth
- A severe toothache
- Broken filling
- Tooth loss
- Painful, bleeding, or swollen gums
- Extensive decay
Do not hesitate to call our Auburn office if you are experiencing a dental emergency or if you need extensive work done. Dr. Balian can extract teeth that are beyond repair and provide a restoration option that will get your oral health back on track.
Tips for Urgent Dental Situations
The first step in any dental emergency is to contact us right away. If you are experiencing pain from a lost tooth, a broken tooth, or an infection, there are steps you can take to lower the pain and increase the possibility of saving a tooth.
- To preserve the tissues around the tooth root, rinse the tooth in warm water and place it back in your mouth where it fell out. Bite down on it using gauze to keep the tooth in place and apply ice to your cheek in the affected area.
- For a displaced tooth that cannot be put back in your mouth, place it in a container and cover it with whole milk or saliva. Do not handle the tooth by the root or attempt to brush or clean it using solutions like rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
- If fragments have broken off, try to save them for reattachment by keeping them hydrated in milk or saliva.
- If you lose part of the previous restoration, keep it in a safe place and bring it with you. Either cover the exposed area or re-attach the crown or filling with dental cement until you can get to the dental office.
- When experiencing a toothache due to abscess or infection, take medication such as ibuprofen to alleviate pain, and reduce inflammation. Rinse with warm salt water, using a topical pain reliever, and applying a cold compress to the cheek can also help reduce symptoms.
The most crucial step is to contact us and schedule an appointment immediately. There is no reason to wait when you are experiencing discomfort and pain. The longer a problem goes without being treated, the more likely it is to get worse. Our team provides comprehensive dental care and can alleviate your pain while restoring your oral health.
Healthy Smiles Now and in the Future
At Balian Family Dental, we understand the importance of oral health and strive to give you the care and education you need to maintain a happy, healthy smile for a lifetime. Our friendly team provides compassionate preventive care for ages seven and up and are committed to providing supportive care and positive experiences for your whole family.
Call or visit our Auburn dental office today to learn more about what we can do for you.
CALL US: (508) 721-7720 REQUEST APPOINTMENT
Related Procedures
Back