Preventive Dentistry

Keeping Your Smile Healthy

Professional preventive dental care is necessary for achieving and maintaining good oral health. We partner with our patients to maintain great oral health because we want you to enjoy strong, healthy, natural teeth throughout life. This partnership relies on Dr. Uyen Nguyen provides dental checkups and cleanings, while you do your bit at home with a daily dental hygiene routine.

At home, you should brush morning and evening, and floss before your evening brushing. Some people like to use a tongue scraper to remove bacteria and plaque that hide on the rough surface. Some prefer a shot of mouthwash for fresh breath. Mouthwash comes in many varieties: for sensitive teeth, to whiten teeth, and for added cavity protection. Floss, also, has variations in style, shape, and flavor. The bottom line is, you should brush and floss every single day to keep your mouth healthy.

If you notice anything abnormal in or around your mouth during your daily dental hygiene regimen, call us to schedule an exam with Dr. Nguyen.

Preventive dentistry in our Marietta dental practice includes: dental checkups, cleanings, oral appliances, fluoride treatments, and children’s dental sealants. Here, you’ll learn about each, and if you want to schedule an appointment or have questions, call Marietta Premier Dental at 770-973-8183.

Dental Check-ups & Cleanings

The American Dental Association (ADA) and the professional dental care community recommend that everyone over the age two years visit a dentist for checkups every six months. After a child can sit still through a dental cleaning, at age four or five, dental checkups should be accompanied by cleanings. Regular preventive dentistry visits help Dr. Nguyen ensures continued good oral health for her patients.

Dental checkups involve a comprehensive oral exam. Dr. Nguyen checks all the teeth, as well as soft oral tissues, for signs of damage or disease. She also assesses existing dental restorations and prosthetics to make sure they’re holding up well. Note that dental work does not last forever and will need periodic replacement. The dentist also evaluates the mouth, head, and neck, looking for lumps or lesions that could indicate cancers. Dr. Nguyen will create a treatment plan, if necessary, to correct any problems and restore your optimal oral health, as well as comfortable oral function.

Dental cleanings allow us to keep a record of your gum health, also known as periodontal health. We probe the gums to measure pocket depths. Periodontal pockets are places where gum tissue has pulled away from teeth. Plaque and bad bacteria hide, thrive, and multiply in these pockets. Our goal is to eliminate periodontal pockets and the destructive bacteria harbored there. By measuring gum pocket depth every six months, we can track improvement or decline. Gum disease afflicts half of all US adults and is the main cause of adult tooth loss, so it’s both widespread and dangerous.

Patients who do not have gum disease can undergo a regular dental cleaning, in which we’ll remove plaque and hardened plaque, called tartar or calculus, from your teeth. If you show signs of gum disease, you may need a deep cleaning. This treatment involves cleaning the teeth, but also cleaning below the gum line with a procedure called scaling. Deep cleaning also involves filing down rough spots on tooth roots, where bacteria tend to gather. Scaling and root planing may take one to three visits. Afterward, you’ll attend more frequent cleanings so that we can help your gums heal and track progress.

Preventive Treatments

In addition to dental checkups and cleanings, Dr. Nguyen offers these preventive treatments:

• Bruxism guards or night guards – to stop teeth grinding and clenching
• Athletic mouth guards – to protect teeth during sports
• Fluoride treatments – to boost the cavity-fighting strength of tooth enamel
• Dental sealants for children – creates a barrier against bacteria on hard-to-clean molars