15/07/2021
Dental Hygienist.
Patients sometimes ask why do they need to have a hygiene appointment or what is a dental hygienist?
The short answer is prevention is better than cure.
The long answer is that most of our dental problems and issues can be either completely prevented or markedly reduced by good oral hygiene. Decay is a big problem for many people and becomes more so as we get older and lose manual dexterity, take more medication, find our saliva flow reducing and our diet changing. Periodontal disease (disease affecting our gums and dentoalveolar bone) also becomes a greater concern over the years. And our mouths are inevitably more restored (fillings, crowns, bridges, implants, partial dentures) as we age. A clean mouth has less problems: less likely to have decay, reduced periodontal disease, and dental restorations last longer. Regular appointments with the dental hygienist can result in a healthier mouth overall, less decay so less treatment is required, reduced progression of periodontal disease, and restorative work (fillings etc) last longer. It makes a lot of sense.
I wonder how many went with the short answer, and how many struggled through the long answer? 😂
