Hygiene / Air Polishing

• Air polish is not recommended for those who suffer from asthma or other chest conditions.
• You may sometimes experience temporary sensitivity to cold and hot beverages for a few days after your appointment.

Don’t forget to ask your Genix Practice for easy-to-follow Patient Plans that let you be regular with your hygiene appointments without hassle.

• It is said that gum disease is not fought in a dental surgery, but in your bathroom! The importance of cleaning your teeth at home cannot be overemphasised. Twice-a-day thorough toothbrushing with fluoridated toothpaste and interdental cleaning is essential to maintain your gum health.
• Smoking cessation and keeping generally healthy (including good blood-sugar control if you are a diabetic) will ensure good gum health in the long run. Good gum health, in its turn, has been proven to be of benefit in improving some general health conditions (which is especially true for diabetes).
• Avoiding excessive consumption of too many strongly-coloured substances in your diet, and limiting your use of stain-inducing mouthwashes will keep the teeth stain-free for longer.

Whether you are a registered patient or not, you can book an appointment with our Genix Hygiene Experts straightaway! This is called a ‘Direct Access’ appointment, and comes with a check-up if you are a first-time visitor.

You usually need only one appointment to get your teeth cleaned by your hygienist, but depending on the extent of deposits and the severity of your gum disease, may need more.

Our mouth is home to as many germs as there are humans on earth—about 6 billion! These bacteria collect at gum line in an invisible film called ‘plaque’. Much like a greasy dish, this can be scrubbed cleaned with your toothbrush. Gums start getting inflamed and infected in the areas where it isn’t removed,  and can eventually come away from the tooth, forming a ‘pocket’. This starts a vicious circle of inability to clean the plaque from deep inside the pockets with your toothbrush, which in turn leads to even more loss of gum attachment, letting plaque creep and accumulate deeper and deeper below the gum line. Some of the plaque that is not cleaned mineralises to form hard build-up called ‘tartar’. While you can see tartar on your teeth, you can’t clean it with a toothbrush since it is attached to the tooth firmly, which means bacteria always find a safe place to harbour themselves, perpetuating the gum infection. Over time, the bone in the gums starts dissolving, leading to loss of tooth support.

Traditionally, scaling involved the use of purpose-designed hand instruments that allowed the hygienist to clean the tartar from the tooth surface. Newer technology involves the use of sonic and ultrasonic tips that gently pick the tartar off your teeth, with microbubbles in the water stream that drive the debris away from the tooth surface getting cleaned. Air polish builds on this to deliver a gentle stream of specially formulated powders under air and water pressure—think if it as giving your teeth a pressure wash!

No sensitivity during scaling? Really?

We hear you! No one fancies the dreadful prospect of sitting on the dental chair with their knuckles all white due to the sensitivity from their teeth getting cleaned. This is why Genix has invested in advanced technology ultrasonic scalers that are so gentle that even recessed gumline with exposed roots can be cleaned without significant discomfort. Hygiene appointments, unlike many other dental procedures, are not a one-time event. It helps our patients immensely to have the peace of mind in knowing that they will be able to maintain their oral hygiene to high standards time-and-time-again without getting anxious.

Why is air polishing better?

Air polishing uses a slurry under air-pressure to clean your teeth. It is gentle on both your tooth enamel and your tooth root, and works without compromising the integrity of tooth surface. Since it doesn’t generate heat or doesn’t involve application of pressure to your teeth, it is comfortable compared to conventional methods. Another advantage is that it can reach under the gums even when there are pockets, delivering effective biofilm removal all-around. Stains on teeth from tobacco chewing or smoking, red wine, black coffee or tea and long-term use of chlorhexidine mouthwash can be thoroughly and efficiently cleaned with air polish since it can target those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. This means you can smile your brightest quickly, and without discomfort.

A lot of times, dentists will recommend getting your teeth air polished before you start teeth whitening to ensure the best results for you.

Regular visits to your hygienist will ensure that you take care of gum problems before they become worse. Some advantages of maintaining a steady hygiene schedule are:

• Renewal of your sparkly clean smile
• Restoration of freshness of breath
• Establishment of healthy gums that don’t bleed
• Maintenance of your dentition in the long run

Periodontal disease is often pain-free. This silent disease often goes undetected until a dentist, dental therapist or a dental hygienist notices it, and recommends action. Once the teeth loose their attachment in gums and bone, it is not reversible. This means when it comes to gum disease, prevention is literally better than cure because a cure doesn’t exist. Regular follow-ups—even when everything seems healthy—are key to keeping gum disease at bay. Over-the-counter oral health products like mouthwash can merely be adjuncts to the treatment for gum disease, and are best used only on your dentist’s recommendation.

Here are some indications for which you need a hygiene visit:

• Cleaning visible build-up on teeth that won’t come off after using a toothbrush
• Treating bleeding gums
• Treating swollen and tender gums
• Correcting bad breath

Wobbly teeth that are developing spaces because they have started to wander off from their original position are signs of advanced gum disease, and you may not only need the regular hygiene services, but also more advanced treatment.

Smokers are at a significantly higher risk of gum disease, and may not even show bleeding on brushing until the gum disease has progressed significantly. Gum disease also has familial tendency. Smokers and those with a family history of gum disease should therefore be even more vigilant. Finally, some medications, medical conditions like diabetes and hormone alterations that take place during pregnancy can exacerbate gum disease.