Regular dental hygiene appointments are so very important to maintain oral health but many people leave their hygiene appointments until they see a lot of noticeable ‘build-up’ of plaque or tartar on their teeth or staining from tea or coffee, or similar. But waiting until then really isn’t the best idea! It is important to attend regularly, regardless of whether you can see tartar or plaque, as it isn’t always visible (for example it could be on the backs of your teeth, or you back teeth!). With that in mind, it is important to understand what a dental hygiene appointment really is, who can legally do a dental hygiene appointment for you, and what types of dental hygiene appointments we do at tooth, our amazing dental practice in London.
Who can Legally carry out a dental hygiene treatment?
A dental hygiene appointment is usually done by a Qualified Dental Hygienist or Dental Hygienist and Therapist (of course, a qualified, GDC registered dentist can also carry out hygiene treatments). In the UK, Dental Hygienists and Dental Hygienist and Therapists have to study a full time degree course and qualify, and then must be registered with the dental governing body, the GDC (General Dental Council).
Additionally they must have full indemnity insurance and be up to date with their mandatory and optional Continued Professional Development (CPD). At tooth, we have an amazing team of experienced, registered and fully indemnified Dental Hygienists - and we choose each and every one of our tooth team very carefully. All our team is picked based on their skills, experience, passion for dentistry and patient care skills too!
What can I expect from a dental hygiene appointment in London?
If you book a dental hygiene appointment/scale and polish at tooth you will be collected from reception at the time of your appointment and taken through to the dental surgery.
The appointment will consist of a review of your teeth and gums in relation to the hygiene treatment, a discussion about your oral health routine and any concerns that you are having, the cleaning treatment itself and some Oral Hygiene Instructions (OHI), tailored to you as a patient.
With regards to the dental hygiene treatment itself, often referred to by patients as a scale and polish, the Dental Hygienist will use a variety of instruments to remove plaque and tartar from the surfaces of the teeth and around the gumline. Instruments that they will use will include a hand-scaler, an ultra-sonic scaler and a hand piece for polishing. For the polishing we use a paste and soft brush - the paste even tastes yummy too (it’s normally mint or orange flavour!).
If you book a Standard Plus Hygiene at tooth or a Deluxe Hygiene, then the other machine that you’ll notice we use is our air flow machine. The air flow machine is a specialist machine that our team is fully trained on, which is easiest to describe as like a little pressure washer that blows out super fine soft powder onto a localised area of the teeth. Air-flow during dental hygiene is great for additional tooth stain removal and particularly good at interdental (between the teeth) stain removal for everyday tooth surface staining, for example from tea, coffee, wine etc.
People often ask me: Would you pay extra for air flow if you were booking a dental hygiene appointment? My answer is yes! Because there’s no fresher feeling than post air flow, and it really does get in those gaps that are hard to reach with traditional hygiene instruments. At tooth we wanted to make air-flow hygiene treatments affordable to everyone, so unlike other practices which sometimes charge up to £50 extra for air-flow, we only charge £10 more! The other reality is that most people will visit the hygienist just every 6 months, at best, so for the sake of an extra £10 every six months I’d always select air flow hygiene if possible and affordable for you individually.
Top 5 Reasons to book a Dental Hygiene appointment:
1. To maintain great oral health! Dental Hygiene appointments are critical for everyone and for the vasty majority of people are recommended every six months. The reality is that no matter how well you clean your teeth, floss and use mouthwash, there are places that only specially trained Dental Hygienists can get!
2. If you can see visible build-up such as plaque or tartar on your teeth. Not only can this be visually un-aesthetic, it can also cause damage to your mouth and gums, plus it can cause mouth odours too.
3. If you are having whitening, or some dental procedures, such as oral surgery, it is always better to do this with a ‘clean’, post-hygiene mouth. For whitening the gels simply won’t work as effectively and for surgical treatments it is always better to do this after hygiene if required.
4. If it has been a long time since your last Dental Hygiene – for example, more than six months or longer. At tooth, we know that going to the Dentist or Hygienist isn’t always a number one priority, but no matter how long it has been, it is always best to just get booked in and start fresh – literally and metaphorically!
5. If you drink a lot of tea, coffee, wine or eat ‘stainy’ foods – those with strong colours, especially certain spices, and/or if you smoke. All of these things cause everyday staining on the surface of your teeth, and dental hygiene can remove most everyday light stains.
What kinds of Dental Hygiene Appointments are there?
At tooth we do three main types of Dental Hygiene treatments. We also do Root Surface Debridement (which we call Perio Therapy) under prescription from a Dentist. Plus for those with advanced periodontal disease, we also have in house Periodontist who can help you stabilise your periodontal disease.
Standard Shine Hygiene - is an all round clean that includes scaling by hand and ultra-sonic scaler and a polish - best for regular attenders for maintenance of general oral health.
Standard Plus Hygiene - is a great all round clean that also includes the use of our air flow system - a special machine that is great for enhanced stain removal and helps provide better interdental stain removal also (between the teeth). This one is best for regular attenders that drink tea, coffee, wine or foods that may stain regularly.
Deluxe Shine Hygiene - is a longer appointment for patients that haven’t been to the hygienist for a while and may have more build up or everyday staining that needs removing. It includes use of our special airflow machine that is great for enhanced stain removal and helps provide better interdental cleaning (cleaning between the teeth).
Anything else I need to know about Dental Hygiene?
One thing that is important to note, and it is confusing for many patients, but hygiene and whitening are different treatments. None of our hygiene treatments deliver any whitening (though they can remove light everyday tooth surface staining). In simple terms whitening deals with the colour of the teeth and lifts the colour of the teeth to a brighter shade, and hygiene deals with build up on the teeth and around the gum line.
How long is the waiting list for Dental Hygiene Appointments?
Well, the good news is at tooth we open long hours and weekends too, so we can better serve our lovely patients. That means we have Dental Hygienists in every day from Monday to Saturday, so we can often book you for a Same Day Dental Hygiene or a Next Day Dental Hygiene. We are open from 8am – 8pm on weekdays and 10am – 4pm on Saturdays too!
How much does a Dental Hygiene Appointment cost in Central London?
At tooth we always aim to be competitive to make great, professional dentistry with an excellent service available to all. As a result we have kept low Dental Hygiene prices as best we possibly can. Patients often forget that full NHS dental hygiene is actually chargeable, and even NHS clinics often charge more for Dental Hygiene than we do! Our prices for Dental Hygiene/Scale and Polish are:
Standard Shine Hygiene (£80/c30mins)
Standard Plus Hygiene (includes air-flow) (£90/c30mins)
Deluxe Shine Hygiene (includes air-flow) (£170/c60mins)
Do I have to see the Dentist before seeing a Hygienist?
At tooth, we offer Direct Access to patients wishing to see a Dental Hygienist. What this means is that you don’t have to see a Dentist first for a check-up, you can book directly to see the Hygienist. Obviously, as a Dentist myself, I must stress that it is really important to see the Dentist for regular check ups (for most people this means once every six months) and I would always recommend that you do this at the same time that you see the Hygienist. But, if you choose not to, we can still see you for a lovely tooth cleaning directly for a Dental Hygiene appointment. We’ll just ask you sign a quick form at reception to confirm that you are happy to be a ‘Direct Access’ patient.
How do I book for dental hygiene at tooth in Waterloo?
It is super easy to book a Dental Hygiene Appointment at tooth and we often have same day hygiene or next day hygiene appointments near you. You can book simply by pressing the button below or by whatsapping us.
See you soon!
Love Anna x