In my practice I have patients that love to come for cleaning because they don’t feel any discomfort. I also have patient that are extra sensitive and need some accommodations in order to tolerate it.
No matter what type of people are sitting on my chair, my job is to properly clean their teeth in order to help them cure the problem and prevent future ones.
If you are the second type and dental cleaning is uncomfortable for you, I hope these tips will help make your next visit more enjoyable.
1. More frequent visits: Of course when it hurts you would like to do it less often not more. The truth is more frequently you go, the less there is to clean. Standard time between the teeth cleaning visits is 6 months. Sure, there is no one size fits all but if you wait longer the tartar build up accumulates on the tooth surface, harboring lots of bacteria and irritating the gums. That makes the gums more sensitive to the touch and in many situations easily bleeding.
2. Take Iboprofen before and after your visit. This can help with pain during the cleaning and the soreness after. Consider taking about 400 mg an hour before the cleaning and 400 mg again six hours after the cleaning. This reduces the inflammatory reaction.
3 Get topical gel to numb your gums. Ask your hygienist to get you numbed for the cleaning. In my office, we have an anesthetic mouthwash and topical gel that the hygienists apply with a Q-tip onto the gums for 5 min before the cleaning. This works well for my most sensitive patients.
4. Get topical fluoride treatment. Finish your tooth cleaning appointment with applying topical fluoride. Topical fluorides strengthen teeth, making them more resistant to acids and sugar in order to fight against cavities and sensitivity.
4. Use a desensitizing toothpaste. Do not switch to a desensitizing toothpaste completely but rather use it as an ointment. That means you will brush with your regular tooth paste, floss and finish your hygiene regimen as usual. Then get a little desensitizing toothpaste on your tooth brush and apply it on the teeth surfaces and don’t rinse for 20-30 min after that. This will help if the reason for the sensitivity comes from your teeth.
5. Use an electric toothbrush. An electric toothbrush will help you in two way: brushing better and brushing more gently. Improving your technique with electric brush will clean better the areas that are difficult to reach and avoid gum inflammation. At the same time electric toothbrush will help you not to over brush your teeth and avoid recessions. Gum inflammation and gum recessions are both main reasons for increased sensitivity.
9. Get flossing: Flossing removes plaque that remained under the gums and in between your teeth after you finish brushing. Skipping it will put at risk of gum inflammation, caries and gum recession. If regular floss is too difficult to handle, try flosser or flossing sticks.