Aftercare Steps Following a Deep Cleaning

As you may know, even the most diligent individuals can end up with cavities, gum recession, and even loose teeth. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to keep their teeth and gums completely healthy on their own, especially with the prevalence of sugar and refined foods & beverages on which bacteria thrive. Even if you regularly use floss or a waterflosser to get into the spaces between teeth, bits of food and traces of beverages are likely to still stay there and help with the formation of plaque; that is the sticky film that harbors bacteria and eventually typically hardens into tartar that cannot be removed at home with toothbrush.

That’s why it is very important to have a cleaning 2-4 times a year by a dental professional who has the tools and knows the techniques that go beyond brushing and flossing. This involves checking for the gum pockets around the teeth, cleaning them out, scraping off the plaque or tartar at or under the gum line; when it is under the gumline, that would be deep cleaning or “scaling” the teeth and “planing” their roots, as needed. Sometimes this is accompanied by irrigating the site with disinfectants, using the laser or placing antibiotics in a particularly infected gum area.

If there is a need for deep cleaning, you will first be given a local anesthetic. This means that your mouth or the site that receives the deep cleaning will be numb for a few hours; so, you should not eat afterwards on that site until the numbness has fully worn off. There may be a prescription strength mouthwash such as chlorhexidine/Peridex provided for you to use after the deep cleaning; that is to keep the bacterial load in your mouth to a minimum while your gums recover from the deep scaling.

Eat soft foods for a couple of days as your mouth heals, avoid acidic ones that can cause irritation (tomatoes and oranges), nuts or popcorn that can get stuck in the teeth, and hard-to-chew foods like burgers or steaks.

If you feel any pain after it is no longer numb, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or Advil should be sufficient to manage it.

Remember that you can always ask to be shown, if you have not been already, the best technique for brushing or flossing or using the waterflosser.

Vitamin B-Complex and C are helpful in general in maintaining good gingival health in the mouth.

And most importantly, the home-care followed by regularly spaced cleanings by a dental professional can ensure that the results are kept up optimally.

If you have not had a cleaning in a while or had a deep cleaning but have not kept up the results, contact Soothing Dental. A dentist in San Francisco or Sunnyvale can evaluate the state of your gums and help you determine what the next steps should be in taking the best possible care of your oral cavity.