Dental hygienists and your overall health!

Until recently, the focus of gum disease was upon tooth loss but thanks to the latest research we are beginning to understand that the impact of gum disease could have a greater far reaching effect on our overall health. Research shows that gum disease has been linked to a range of other wider health problems including strokes, heart disease and diabetes.  What’s more, studies are now looking at links between gum health and other inflammatory conditions within the body.

So, what is the best way for you to effectively prevent gum disease? Visiting the hygienist can be essential in maintaining healthy gums and reducing your risk of more serious health conditions.

For many, the idea of visiting the hygienist is often dismissed due to the prospect of the dreaded ‘scale and polish’ but the role of the hygienist is so much more than this. Your hygienist works with you to both prevent disease and keep plaque under control.

The three main things your hygienist will do are:

1. Assess the health of your gums and the effectiveness of your homecare

2. Remove hard plaque from your teeth, this makes it easier for you to remove the soft plaque which contains bacteria that attacks your teeth and gums.

3. Work with you to show you effective skills, tools and techniques that you can use at home to remove plaque from the surface of every tooth, every day.

We’re committed to helping our patients to stay healthy by helping them to learn the skills they need to maintain healthy teeth and gums for life. This means that we are continually advising all our patients to improve their homecare management of damaging bacterial plaque.