Deep cleaning a scam? (infected, cavities, treatment, fillings)
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This. For some reason it seems to pop up more often in conversations about dental hygiene. Heredity does play a role. Off the top of my head I can think of several friends who had the dental deck of cards stacked against them from the start. They always took exceptional care of their teeth but still faced lots of dental repair, deep cleanings, root canals, tooth loss, and eventually, dentures.
Lots of factors in a good set of choppers (or not). Fluoridation doesn't really help much for gingivitis but it does have an impact on dental health. Thing is, if your teeth are bad, it might be painful to brush, or use some more astringent mouthwashes. So you don't brush as well as you should because it just hurts - and then you end up with more tartar, and then you end up with inflamed gums - aka gingivitis. It's even worse if you're a minor child who is not legally allowed to seek dental care without a parent or legal guardian to sign off and pay for it. Not all parents value teeth as well as they should. Or be able to afford dental care for their kids. So even if the kid is doing everything right - there could easily be just one tiny fragment of a popcorn kernel stuck under the gum for several days. And it festers. And causes inflammation. Which makes it hard to brush. Which allows that fragment to continue stretching the space between gum and tooth, which invites bacteria in, which feeds the plaque and inflammation, which builds up more and more... and a year later, there's no yearly dental checkup happening so the kid ends up with 7-sized pockets, gingivitis, periodontitis, bone loss, and ultimately - tooth loss. Or rotting teeth - which is actually worse.
It's scaling and root planing. When you have gingevitis, you have plaque buildup UNDER the gumline, where a toothbrush or routine dental instruments can't get to. This causes reddening of the gums, inflammation, bleeding (when you brush your teeth or even suck liquid through a straw), and can lead to bone loss and infection. So they numb up the gum and basically power-wash beneath the gumline, and then use a special dental instrument to pick and pry the bits of hardened plague. You're sore for the rest of the day, and you're usually fine the next day. They might do this only one one quad, or multiple or even all four quads. Depends on where the inflammation is.
A quad is the upper right, upper left, lower right, and lower left.
It's a very common procedure, most people need it at some point during their lives. Most people also do /not/ need it multiple times. But some people do, whether due to genetics or poor dental hygiene or even poor diet.
I've never needed it because I grew up with proper dental hygiene and have good teeth as well. However, I worked with a woman who came from a very rural background where flossing was unknown and proper brushing was never taught. I don't think she ever went to the dentist until she was well into adulthood. She needed, and had, a full deep cleaning because her gums were a total mess and she was in danger of losing her teeth. The deep cleaning, although painful, allowed her to begin healing from the long-term effects of poor dental hygiene and lack of tooth and gum care from any dentist.
Huh? You get plaque build up because you aren't adequately brushing/flossing after eating soft, sticky or sugary foods. Lack of exercise, drinking and smoking don't cause plaque. You can run a marathon every day but if you go home and eat donuts or drink sodas and don't brush/floss afterwards you get plaque
Actually, smoking does indeed contribute to tartar and plaque build-up. Smoking stimulates saliva production and can make a bacterial plaque that sticks along with plaque caused directly by the nicotine and tartar in cigarettes. I say this as a smoker.
Too much drinking alcohol does contribute to plaque. Lack of exercise also contributes to plaque. It doesn't create plaque or "cause it" but it turns the mouth into a petri dish, the perfect host for plaque to form.
Every 3 months I go to the Dentist to do cleaning which includes Periodontal Maintenance:
Gingival Irrigation - Per Quadrant
Topical Application of Flouride Varnish.
Application of Desensitizing.
Perio Charting.
Is this a scam?
If you have a history of gingivitis and periodontitis, or have had other dental problems due to genetics or poor hygiene, then no it's probably necessary. You could always find a different dentist and get another opinion.
I have had two deep cleanings done by different people.
First one was done by periodontist. He did all upper teeth and took 30 minutes not including the injections. Yes, they were very painful. Once numb he clean each of the teeth individually. Next day no real pain. I do follow-up periodontal cleanings with him twice a year.
The second so called deep cleaning was done by a regular dental hygienist. She really did just a regular cleaning and they called it a deep cleaning. I was not numbed, nor did I need to be since it was so much a regular cleaning.
My recommendation is if you are told to get a deep cleaning go to a periodontist.
Most dentistry is a scam these days. They want to squeeze as much money as possible out of you while they have you in their chairs.
Mine doesnt I had four composite fillings done free on the NHS and another white one at the side done for £45.... as I cant have mercury fillings done on the NHS...front teeth are done with white fillings free but not back or side... so a great bargain and look great as three of my front had small chips now look perfect....good old NHS in the UK
I had cleaning done free on the NHS in the UK... along with composite fillings
Not really comparable. You are in an entirely different health care situation than the majority of C-D members...who live in the USA!
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