Periodontal Maintenance vs Regular Cleaning

The goal of any professional dental cleaning is to remove plaque and bacteria, prevent infections and tooth decay, and to ensure the patient is left in good oral health. When it comes to routine visits to the dentist, a regular cleaning will happen. If by chance there are any signs or increased buildup, more intensive actions are taken when cleaning the teeth. This then becomes periodontal maintenance cleaning, also known as deep cleaning.

Regular cleaning

Regular dental cleaning is usually the core part of a dental checkup, and is covered in the medical insurance cost, along with X-rays and dental exams. Also known as Prophylaxis, the main focus of this cleaning is the plaque and other foreign elements from the mouth that could lead to oral health complications. The routine is done as a preventative measure against gum disease or any other serious cases, and leaves the patient with a healthy mouth. Tools used for this procedure are:

  1. A scraping tool to remove plaque from the surface of the tooth above the gumline
  2. Electric toothbrush to effectively clean the surface and between the teeth
  3. Floss or a water jet to clean between the teeth
  4. Coarse toothpaste to clean and polish the surface of the teeth
  5. Dental mouthwash to rinse

Periodontal maintenance

If during an exam or cleaning the dentist sees signs of bleeding gums, or plaque forming deep below the gumline, then the extensiveness of the procedure changes to periodontal cleaning. In other words, a deep cleaning clears plaque deeper below the gumline, scrapes and buffs out the teeth to prevent further symptoms of gum disease. If there is infection present, the dental specialist will prescribe medications that range from:

  1. Antimicrobial mouth rinse
  2. Gelatin-based medication called an antiseptic chip
  3. A low dose of doxycycline as an enzyme suppressant to prevent destructive enzymes from multiplying

For this procedure, it is usually done in quadrants of the mouth, due to the intensive work done to the gums. It’s a procedure that takes a little longer than a regular dental cleaning and is also more invasive to the point where a local numbing solution is injected into the gums, so it is less painful when scraping the plaque from beneath them. This becomes more costly than a regular cleaning too, since it needs to be done four times.

Why is preventative care important?

Without proper care, oral health can quickly decline and cause major issues to the body. If left alone, the plaque forming beneath the gum line can rot the tooth and expose the nerve to infection, causing abscesses and gum disease to progress in the mouth. Eventually, the infection may become worse to the point where the bone mass around the teeth starts to go hollow, making it unstable for the tooth to stay in place and possibly become loose or fall out as the teeth separate from each other. Other symptoms of gum disease can look like:

  1. Swollen gums
  2. Bad breath (Halitosis)
  3. Chewing becomes painful
  4. Sensitive teeth

Related Article: What is Dental Prophylaxis?