Our preventive services aim to prevent 2 major diseases affecting your mouth: dental decay and gum disease.
We offer the following preventive services at Drummoyne Dental Practice:
Regular examinations and maintenance cleaning
Most of our patients visit routinely every 6 months for examination and cleaning. 6 months may seem like a frequent period of time, however it is 182 days in which plaque can settle into hard to reach places and start forming tartar which affects both your teeth and the gums they rely upon.
A combination of at home maintenance (brushing and flossing) and professional “cleaning” and treatment will ensure that your mouth, and the body systems it is connected to, are in top shape and able to be enjoyed for the rest of your life. If plaque and tartar exist and you leave it on your teeth and under your gums it will dramatically increase over the next few months. Tartar provides a great breeding ground for plaque forming an environment where exponential growth is common. Tartar cannot be removed with domestic tooth brushes or any liquids found in the supermarket. Plaque can be kept to a minimum with twice daily brushing and flossing using correct technique (see video below) and a healthy diet free from sugars which help plaque bacteria grow. For patients who have deep spaces in between their teeth, bone loss around teeth and heavy plaque and tartar formation, the dentist will usually recommend 3 monthly hygiene/cleaning appointments.
At Drummoyne Dental Practice, we have a well organised recall maintenance program in place at our practice. Depending on patient preference, we offer reminders via several different methods.
Digital Radiographs
Depending on the condition of your teeth and gums, the dentist may recommend taking an x-ray to more thoroughly check diagnoses. Digital radiography is available at Drummoyne Dental Practice. This means that images come up on the screen almost immediately and, more importantly, a lesser amount of radiation can be used to produce an image of similar contrast to conventional radiography.
Demonstration and reinforcement of correct brushing and flossing techniques
A large majority of Australians are not aware of the correct brushing and flossing techniques. This means that they may be brushing and flossing daily, yet they still have decay and/or gum disease present! This is understandably a frustrating problem for a lot of people. At Drummoyne Dental Practice, we value and stress the importance of good home care routines and each patient is shown, by a dentist, the best brushing and flossing techniques.
Topical Fluoride Application
At Drummoyne Dental Practice, we believe that prevention is better than cure. Fluoride helps protect against tooth decay and can also repair weak spots that have the potential to become cavities on the surface of teeth. Fluoride prevents acid (produced by the bacteria in plaque) from dissolving, or demineralising, tooth structure. Fluoride also allows teeth, which have been damaged by acid, to repair and remineralise. Fluoride cannot repair cavities which have already formed, however, it can reverse early demineralisation and prevent new cavities from forming. If you have any further questions about the use of Fluoride in preventive dentistry, please feel free to ask the dentist at your appointment.
Fissure sealants
Pits and fissures are natural anatomical grooves found on the chewing surfaces of teeth. The depth of these grooves vary from person to person. If these grooves are quite deep, food and plaque may trap in the grooves and be difficult to clean out. This plaque trap may lead to the formation of decay. To prevent this type of decay, the fissures can be sealed over with a white tooth coloured material. This material prevents food and plaque from lodging into the fissures and thus prevents decay. Placement of fissure sealants is a simple non-invasive procedure and is highly effective in the prevention of fissure decay.
