Teeth Cleaning & Check-ups
Plaque you can brush away; tartar you cannot. A professional cleaning every six months removes what home care misses, and the checkup around it catches everything else early.
- Chair time
- 30 minutes to an hour
- First visit
- About an hour, a little longer for new patients
- Cadence
- Every six months
- Numbing
- Not needed for a routine cleaning
Every service is quoted up front, before we start. All PPO insurances accepted.
The service
Plaque, tartar and everything between.
Plaque is the soft film that forms on teeth constantly; brushing removes it. Left alone it hardens into tartar, which only dental instruments can remove. Your hygienist finds and clears both, working every surface, the tight spaces between teeth and the gum line where bacteria gather.
The cleaning finishes with prophy paste: coarse enough to lift the last of the plaque, dissolving finer as it works, leaving teeth smooth and shiny. Before you leave we point out where buildup concentrates in your mouth, so your daily brushing and flossing can go where it counts.
The routine six-month cleaning is called prophylaxis. Some procedures called cleanings are really periodontal treatments: full mouth debridement for heavy calculus, scaling and root planing for early gum disease, and perio maintenance for anyone with a history of gum disease.
What happens
Your first visit, step by step.
Dental history
A hygienist gathers your dental and medical history, including any conditions that could affect treatment.
Digital X-rays
Part of the comprehensive exam. If you have had X-rays within the last 12 months, have them sent to us instead.
Screening and exam
An oral cancer and lesion screening, a look for mouth signs that can point to illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, then a tooth-by-tooth decay exam.
Gum evaluation and cleaning
The hygienist measures your periodontal pockets with a probe, then removes plaque, tartar and calculus.
Home-care review
The visit ends with a review of your brushing and flossing, tuned to what we found.
Is it for you
Worth asking about if.
You do not need to match every line. Any one of them is reason enough to ask.
- More than six months since your last cleaning
- Gums that bleed when you brush
- Buildup you can feel behind your lower front teeth
- Bad breath that brushing does not fix
Common questions
Answering your questions.
How long does a cleaning take?
30 minutes to an hour. Full appointments run about an hour; new patient visits a little longer.
What does a cleaning cost?
Most dental insurance covers cleanings, and we take all PPO plans. If you are new and paying yourself, the $99 first visit covers the exam, X-rays, 5D scan and cleaning together, in the absence of gum disease.
What happens if I skip cleanings?
Tartar builds, gums get infected, and periodontal disease follows. That costs you comfort when you eat and confidence when you talk, and gum disease is linked to heart disease and stroke as well.
More in Preventive Dentistry
Your first visit
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