Alpine Smiles

Cleaning

Preventive Care

Our preventive services create healthy smiles that will last a lifetime.

Regular comprehensive exams and professional cleanings will keep your smile clean and healthy. Dr. Pasut will thoroughly clean your teeth and screen for tooth decay, gum disease, oral cancer, and other harmful conditions. With regular cleanings every six months, we can detect oral problems early, when conservative treatment is an option. We will also teach you how to optimize your oral homecare routine, because daily care is vital to maintaining a fresh and healthy smile for life.

Dr. Pasut will use X-rays to identify cavities and structural abnormalities. She will also use an intra-oral camera, the size of a pen, to take pictures of your teeth which then are enlarged to a computer monitor. This is an indispensable diagnostic tool, since the camera can pick up things that may otherwise go unnoticed. Your findings are recorded into our state-of-the-art computer software. If your mouth is in good dental health, she will also do the cleaning or prophylaxis at this time.

Periodontal Therapy

Plaque buildup around the gum line can lead to periodontal disease. This insidious infection causes persistent bad breath, gums that bleed easily, and gum recession. It can also contribute to the risk of stroke, heart attack, and complications for diabetics and pregnant women. Regular brushing, flossing, and preventive care visits with our hygienists help stave off periodontal disease, but should an infection occur, we can help. Rest assured periodontal disease is often reversible with professional therapy.

Scaling and Root Planing

Advanced gum disease sometimes requires the dentist to clean below the gum line to remove stubborn, crusty deposits called tartar or calculus, and to remove damage near the tooth root. This is done to prevent further damage and restore and stabilize the tooth. To minimize discomfort when treating periodontal disease, we administer a local anesthetic before scaling and root planing. We then use a small scaling instrument and/or an ultrasonic cleaning device, which emits a sonic vibration to remove tartar deposits from around and below the gum line. Patients will be monitored closely for the remainder of their life so that no more bone loss will occur.

Below is an illustration of the progression of periodontal disease.