Prophylaxis Dental | Teeth Cleaning

Learn From Doctor Team
Learn From Doctor Team is made up of well-qualified doctors of different fields with brilliant academic results and professional careers. The article is written and reviewed by doctors of this specialty.

What is Prophylaxis Dental? 

A dental prophylaxis or Prophylaxis dental is a medical term that means the checkups of your teeth and mouth cavity. It is a routine preventive procedure. 

If somebody hasn’t visited the dentist for a while, he should get an appointment for prophylaxis dental. It is a routine procedure where the dentist will evaluate your dental health and condition. Also, the doctor will clean your teeth and recommend a course of treatment if he finds any infection or condition. 

One should visit a dentist at least once every six months. Dental treatment is quite scary, so a preventive procedure such as dental prophylaxis is necessary and effective. 

 

Who needs Prophylaxis Dental?

A dental prophylaxis is a routine procedure. Everybody should undergo this twice a year. 

Our teeth and mouth properties are different than other organs. So other organs can be treated by medicine. But if any of your teeth are affected, you need to undergo dental surgical treatment. 

If your mouth condition is good, brush twice a day, floss regularly. Still, it would be best if you were appointed for a prophylaxis dental. 

Teeth get affected gradually, and it takes time. The bacteria needs about 24 hours to create a colony in the mouth, which can lead to pulp and teeth damage. 

The doctor will follow some routine steps to ensure you do not have any underlying oral health issues. Also, the doctor will check your health status from head to neck overall.

So, it’s easy to understand that everybody needs dental prophylaxis treatment. 

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Dental Prophylaxis Services

The dental prophylaxis procedure contains some services that the dental surgeon follows to evaluate your dental health status. Prophylaxis dental services include;

  • Dental Examinations
  • X-ray
  • Teeth cleaning
  • Scaling and root planing
  • Flossing and polishing
  • Fluoride treatment and sealants

Each of those services provides different output. For example, during a dental examination, the doctor evaluates the overall visible condition of your teeth, gum, and associated areas. 

The x-ray is needed to diagnose the decay, fracture, or cavities of the teeth. The root canal inflammation is also diagnosed by x-ray. 

Scaling is a form of cleaning. Flossing is required to remove stuck food from your teeth. 

Prophylaxis Dental Procedure

The dental surgeon follows the early mentioned services sequence-wise to get the highest benefit out of them. 

Dental Examination

A dental examination is necessary for evaluating the general oral health condition. 

If anybody visits the doctor twice a year for a dental examination, the possibility of developing any dental issues reduces by many folds. 

Some study has been done to evaluate the effectiveness of dental examinations. One of those studies focused on children. They examined the teeth of the children once every six months. 

And the result was shocking. Most of the children didn’t experience any dental issues because of the regular check-ups. 

Dental examinations are necessary for everyone. However, as the children are more prone to dental cavities and infection, they need extra care. 

A dental examination can help you to prevent any serious dental issues. 

Visiting the dentist twice a year and maintaining proper oral hygiene is the key to prevent dental conditions. 

Dental X-rays

According to American Dental Association, a dental x-ray is not necessary unless the dentist finds anything suspicious in your teeth. 

If you maintain a healthy lifestyle, brush your teeth, and floss regularly, you may be needed to do an x-ray once every three years. 

The dentist will examine your teeth and gum. To evaluate your dental condition to the root level, the dentist may recommend you to do an x-ray. 

dental x ray is an important part of prophylaxis dental
dental x ray is an important part of prophylaxis dental

If you have undergone a root canal, filling, or crowning before, the doctor may recommend you an-ray to evaluate the treatment status. 

As the teeth are the hardest part of the body, an x-ray is necessary to get insight into your teeth. 

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Scaling

A dental prophylaxis is necessary for preventive purposes. 

In this procedure, the dentist uses oral antibiotics to kill oral bacteria and infectious agents. Brushing, flossing, and normal mouthwashes cannot kill the microbes inside our mouth. 

The dentist makes sure there isn’t any bacterial colony surviving in your mouth. 

Some studies found that scaling and polishing have some side effects also. One of the major side effects is bacteremia. 

scaling and polishing
scaling and polishing

Bacteremia: agitation in the gum can cause the transmission of bacteria into the bloodstream. 

Some studies also mentioned that bacteremia is detected just after gum agitation during dental prophylaxis. But 

Although, you cannot just neglect this procedure because of side effects. This procedure is necessary, and dentists do it when necessary, and the benefits outweigh the risks. 

The bacteria take only 24 hours to create a colony in your mouth. So, the dentist needs to make sure there isn’t any residual bacterial colony in your mouth during a prophylaxis dental. 

The doctor may also do your blood tests for antibiotic screening if he suspects antibiotic resistance in your body. 

Fluoride Treatment And Sealants

Dental sealants work well on children’s teeth. 

Several studies have proved that those who considered getting sealants in their teeth have faced fewer teeth problems than those who didn’t get the sealants. 

Sealants protect your teeth from various factors. For example, your teeth’ edges can be broken if you bite something hard. Sealants can protect you then. 

Children aren’t aware of their teeth conditions and oral health. Sealants can prevent their teeth from potential injury, cavities, and infection.

Fluoride is a necessary substance to prevent tooth decay. 

Doctors often provide fluoride supplements if your dental condition is not satisfying. You may already be seen in the tv advertisements that toothpaste contains fluoride. 

During the fluoride treatment, the dentist may varnish your teeth with fluoride to prevent your tooth decay. It’s also a preventive procedure and is included in dental prophylaxis. 

Your dentist may prescribe you fluoride supplements along with fluoride mouth wash. 

Fluoride Containing Foods

  • Spinach
  • Grapes
  • Raisins, wine
  • Black tea
  • Potatoes

Many other foods also contain natural fluorides, but the foods mentioned above contain natural fluoride in quite high concentrations. 

Dental Flossing

Dental flossing is a part of dental prophylaxis. A dental hygienist can do it after scaling and before polishing. 

Dental flossing is very important to remove any stuck substance from your teeth’ gaps. The children are educated in the school to floss every day. 

Flossing is an important part of dental prophylaxis
Flossing is an important part of dental prophylaxis

Flossing should be added to your daily routine, along with brushing. Stuck foods help the bacterias to create a colony. 

Stuck food particles also cause halitosis. 

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Prophylaxis Dental For Kids

Children need special attention in the case of health care and oral care. 

Children are less aware of their teeth and oral hygiene. As a result, they eat sugary chocolates and other unhealthy foods. Often they sleep with the chocolate or candy in their mouth. 

Every year about 43% of children are affected with cavities and other bacterial infections. Unfortunately, the only way to prevent that is dental prophylaxis. 

Children should often visit the dentist at least once every six months for prophylaxis dental. This prevention procedure can help them to prevent cavities and oral pain. 

Parents should teach their children to brush twice everyday
Parents should teach their children to brush twice everyday

Also, the parents should be educated about oral hygiene. Then, they should take care of their child’s oral health. 

Some studies found that proper dental prophylaxis can prevent the massive number of cavities in children. 

How Often To Do Dental Prophylaxis?

Experts advise doing dental prophylaxis twice a year. But it depends on some factors. 

If your teeth are very healthy, you may properly follow your oral hygiene and visit a dentist for dental prophylaxis every 8-12 months. 

If you are a smoker, having gum conditions, or have other oral health issues, you may need to do dental prophylaxis once every 3-4 months. 

The experts do not advise you to take more than a year. However, if you want to have maximum prevention, it will be wise to do it every six months. 

Talk to your dentist. He will evaluate your oral health conditions and advise your prophylaxis schedule. 

Prevention Measure For Oral Health

Dental Brushing

Brushing is the best practice to prevent oral issues. The parents should teach their children to brush twice every day. 

Using a properly sized brush and proper technique is necessary. 

Change your toothpaste often and make sure your toothpaste contains fluorides. 

Do not brush just after completing your meal. Take a little break. Always brush your teeth at least after 20 minutes of finishing a meal. 

Electric rotating brush provides better prevention and cleaning than the ordinary brushes. 

Flossing

Flossing is also a good practice. Only brushing isn’t sufficient to clean your mouth. Often food particles can be stuck between the gap of your teeth, and flossing can remove them. 

Floss kits are available in the market, and the price is also low. So you can buy them and use them. 

Teach the children how to use floss. 

Prophylaxis Dental Summary

A dental prophylaxis is a preventive procedure for dental health. 

Our teeth and gum are very sensitive. Therefore, they can easily be affected by bacterias and infections. 

So, it’s better to prevent those issues. Daily brushing and flossing aren’t sufficient sometimes. Doing dental prophylaxis twice a year can reduce the risks of your oral health by many folds. 

In the case of children, it’s more important to do prophylaxis dental because they eat unhealthy foods and take less care of their teeth. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is dental prophylaxis?

It’s a preventive procedure that helps teeth to prevent potential infections and risks. Dental prophylaxis includes x-ray, teeth cleaning, scaling, flossing, etc.

What type of procedure is dental prophylaxis?

It is a routine preventive procedure for dental health. The dentist will clean your mouth and make sure there is not no sign of infection or any health issues.

How often one should do dental prophylaxis?

Dental prophylaxis should be done once every 6 months. If your dental health is awesome then your doctor may advise you to visit once every 7-8 months. If your oral condition is poor then the doctor may recommend you to visit every 3-4 months.

Last Updated on February 23, 2022 by Learn From Doctor Team

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