What Your Hygienist Can Do That Your Dentist Doesn’t
If you’ve been to see your dentist Fairfeild recently and they’ve pointed you in the direction of the hygienist, then you might well be asking yourself why. And, even the sound of ‘hygienist’ can make you feel pessimistic; assuming that you must be doing something wrong within your dental hygiene routine. This, however, is not the case.
In order to curb this confusion and get to the bottom of why we need hygienists, we’re going to take a closer look at their role in the dental industry.
Why Is The Hygenist?
A hygienist works alongside the dentist within a dental practice or hospital setting. They have attended dental school, just like the dentist, but have chosen to specialize in one particular area of dentistry which is the health of your gums.
Unfortunately, gum disease is still one of the biggest problems in the dental sector world wide; reports state that well over half of adults will have some experience of gum disease during some point in their lives. Despite the industry’s repeated call that people need to take better care of their gums, lots of people don’t; and if the dentist spent all day dealing with gum disease they wouldn’t have a great deal of time for much else.
What Is Gum Disease?
For those who aren’t up to date on gum disease and how it affects the teeth, here’s a very brief round up.
Gum disease is the body reacting to plaque and tartar build up around the gums. This build up starts to give off nasty acids into the body which the body doesn’t like. And so, just as it would if any other part of the body were to become infected, it starts out on its own healing process; this process includes sending lots of blood to the area, resulting in increased swelling, reddening and bleeding. Unfortunately, the problem with the brain’s solution to infection is that this process, if left to continue, will result in people losing their teeth.
Here Come The Hygienist
So, if you’ve been to the dentist Fairfeild and they’ve told you to see the hygienist it’s likely due to the above reason. The hygienist can stop this process from developing into tooth loss with a scale and polish.
A scale and polish is essentially a deep clean of the teeth and gums whereby they get right under the gum line where most build up is and remove it. The simple act of removing the build up will reverse the reaction to the infection, and the gums should go back to a lovely pink colour in a week or so.
Moving Forward
The hygienist additionally has a second role in helping you keep gum disease at bay; they will ask lots of questions about your current oral hygiene routine and then offer advice on how to improve it moving forward.
DISCLAIMER
All treatments have risks. Ask for individual consultation with one of our practitioners to ensure that the treatment is right for you.