Deep Cleaning Teeth Explained with Its Benefits and Downsides

Dental hygiene helps fight bad breath and prevents gum disease. Therefore it is essential to brush and floss regularly and see your dentist twice yearly for routine dental cleanings. Sometimes the dentist recommends a deep cleaning in Peoria if they notice symptoms of bleeding gums, receding gums, or loose teeth. Deep cleaning, also called periodontal scaling or root planing, although common, has its risks.

This article provides all the information you want on deep cleaning teeth, including its benefits and downsides.

What Precisely Is Deep Cleaning Teeth?

Deep cleaning teeth is a procedure to remove plaque and tartar buildup on your teeth to reduce gum inflammation and improve gum health. A sticky film constantly forms over your teeth and is called plaque. Plaque contains bacteria and develops when food particles in your mouth and saliva mix. Plaque is removable by brushing even as it collects every day on your teeth. However, brushing doesn’t help eliminate all plaque from between your teeth. The leftover plaque calcifies to form tartar.

Gum disease results from the accumulation of plaque and tartar in your mouth. Gum disease starts as gingivitis by inflaming your gums. When left untreated, gingivitis progresses to periodontitis, a severe condition that destroys the bone supporting the teeth.

Benefits of Deep Cleaning

A deep cleaning helps inhibit gum disease and fights bad breath. In addition, the deep cleaning process protects tooth roots and promotes healthy gums to prevent tooth loss.

You may require deep cleaning of teeth if gum disease results in your gums pulling away from the teeth creating pockets greater than 5 mm deep. When gum disease worsens, widening of the space between your teeth and gums is a familiar occurrence. The widening can weaken the bones supporting your teeth to leave you with loose teeth or tooth loss.

If the Peoria dentist recommends a deep cleaning, you benefit from the procedure as follows:

• Deep cleaning stops the progress of gum disease.
• The cleaning treats an existing infection to promote healing.
• The dentist cleans your teeth from over and under the gum line.
• The cleaning helps eliminate bad breath resulting from gum disease and protects your tooth roots.

Downsides of Deep Teeth Cleaning

Although deep cleaning helps treat gum disease, the procedure has its downsides. They are:

• The deep cleaning procedure can cause nerve damage and further recession of your gums.
• The process doesn’t guarantee a reattachment of your gums to your teeth.
• If you have a compromised immune system, you can develop infections besides experiencing pain and sensitivity.

Common side effects of the deep cleaning procedure include pain and sensitivity. The side effects last for around five to seven days. However, in extensive cases, the discomfort may extend for a few weeks.

What Does Deep Cleaning Entail?

Deep cleanings are unlike routine teeth cleanings. During regular teeth cleanings, a dental hygienist removes plaque and tartar from above the gum line. On the other hand, a deep cleaning requires plaque and tartar removal from below the gum line. This is because gum disease causes spaces to develop between your teeth and gums, allowing the trapping of plaque and tartar. Therefore, dentists eliminate the buildup by cleaning below the gum line.

Root Planing and Gum Scaling Are Also Involved in Deep Cleanings

Deep cleanings are performed in two or more visits requiring about a couple of hours and involve root planing and gum scaling. During the tooth scaling appointment, the Peoria dentist eliminates plaque and tartar from below the gum line. During the visit for root planing, the dentist eliminates plaque and tartar forming on the roots of your teeth. The procedure helps reduce the size of the pockets between your gums and teeth, allowing them to reattach to your teeth.

Is Deep Cleaning Uncomfortable?

You can expect some discomfort during deep cleaning teeth, especially when undergoing the teeth scaling and root planing procedure. However, dentists provide you oral conscious sedation, or you receive local anesthesia to numb your gums. Therefore, you can expect sensitivity after the course when your gums might swell and may experience some bleeding.

If you have a compromised immune system, the dentist recommends you take antibiotics for a few days. The reason for the recommendation is because of the risk of infections after the procedure. Additionally, deep cleanings can sometimes release bacteria into your bloodstream.

Deep cleaning teeth helps get rid of bad breath and encourages the healing of gum disease. However, the procedure does have its risks. Therefore, it is essential to understand any possible complications and side effects before preparing yourself for them.