Dental Exams & Hygiene Visits

Dental Exam

A comprehensive dental exam will be performed by Dr. Ford at your initial dental visit. At regular check-up exams, Dr. Ford and hygienist will include the following:

  • Examination of diagnostic x-rays (radiographs): Essential for detection of decay, tumors, cysts, and permanent bone loss.  X-rays also help determine tooth and root positions.  Our latest digital system takes the images with far less radiation than conventional equipment and uses no chemicals to develop them.
  • Oral cancer screening: Check the face, neck, lips, tongue, throat, tissues, and gums for any signs of inflammation; lymph nodes can enlarge to show signs of infection or the beginning of a nodule.  Sometimes there are benign growths found as well as malignancies.  
  • Periodontal Disease (Gum disease) Evaluation: Check the periodontal structures: Gingiva (gums), Periodontal ligament (ligament attaching the gum to the tooth), Alveolar bone (jaw bone) and Cementum (covering of the root of the tooth).  Along with checking the color, contour, texture of the tissue, Dr. Ford and your dental hygienist will use a periodontal measuring device called a periodontal probe.  This is a painless instrument that measures how tightly attached the gum is to the tooth.  The tighter the gum is the healthier it is and the shallower the space is, therefore less food, plaque and tartar can collect.
  • Examination of tooth decay: All tooth surfaces will be checked for decay, fractures, and any abnormaliites with special dental instruments.
  • Examination of existing restorations: Check current fillings, crowns, etc.
  • Examination of malocclusion:  Check and measure how your teeth are fitting together and how well they are functioning for chewing.  Also, checking for any TMJ concerns and any muscle discomfort you may be having.

Professional Dental Hygiene Visit

Professional dental hygiene visits (dental prophylaxis) are performed by Registered Dental Hygienists. 

It is important to know that at Dr. Ford's office we dedicate and schedule an entire hour to each and every hygiene appointment.  This allows your dental hygienist the necessary time to assess your gingival health, scale and polish your teeth meticulously and give any hygiene instructions or express any concerns we may have of your teeth and/or gums.  This is an interactive appointment in which we use an intra-oral camera, assessment instruments like the periodontal probe and a wide spectrum of hygiene scalers (both ultrasonic and hand) to gently and thoroughly perform your necessary hygiene debridement.  After the scaling and polishing, we will irrigate any hemorrhagic areas (bleeding points) with a medicament specially for your gingival issue.

This time is critical in not only physically removing all the plaque biofilm, food debris, and calculus (tartar) above the gumline, but most importantly to remove all the calculus under the gumline.  Depending upon the quantity of calculus, the quality (how tenacious it is) and how long it has resided in your mouth, we will discuss if any additional hygiene appointments are necessary (please see the periodontal section) or we will discuss the proper most preventive interval for your next hygiene appointment.  This specific interval is known as the "Balance Point" and it is the specific number of weeks you personally can go between hygiene visits before you or your dental hygienist sees bleeding.  Healthy gums don't bleed!  

We need to figure out how long your mouth stays healthy between visits and that is truly when you should have your regular, maintenance visits with us.  For some that may mean 12 weeks (3 months), or 16 weeks (4 months) and for others 6 or 8 months is perfectly acceptable.  Keep in mind that you may have many systemic conditions (Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease or Rheumatoid Arthritis) that all contribute to periodontal disease and due to your medications and challenging healing response--you may need to come in more frequently.  We evaluate this one-on-one and on an individual basis to customize the proper preventive treatment for you--you want you to keep your teeth for a lifetime and the quality of life is our priority for you!  We are a team together and we will create a program that best fits your needs.

 Your hygiene appointment will include the following:

   *  Removal of calculus (tartar): Calculus is hardened bacterial plaque that has been left on the tooth for sometime and is now firmly attached to the tooth surface.  Calculus forms above and below the periodontal attachment (gum line), and can only be removed with specific hygiene sickles and currettes; specialized hand instruments.   Our dental hygienists have gone through additional training beyond their traditional education to gain the latest techniques to meticulously remove the calculus to provide a bacteria-free surface of your teeth to provide a healthy environment for your gingiva (gum) to be healthy around.  The removal of this hard bacteria can be accomplished comfortably with topically-applied analgesic (numbing gel) for your comfort.  We also have ultrasonic-style instrumentation that can help facilitate the comfortable removal of the tartar.  We custom-fit your hygiene visit to what you would prefer; please let your hygienist know your preferences.  Your preventive prophylaxis includes the removal of all the tartar above and gumline and within the sulucus (healthy space, naturally found below the gumline).

  • Removal of plaque: Plaque is a soft, sticky, almost invisible film that forms on the teeth daily.  It is a growing colony of living bacteria, food debris, and saliva.  The bacteria produce toxins (poisons) that inflame the gums.  This inflammation is the start of periodontal disease! The earliest form of periodontal disease is Gingivitis.  It is caused by the plaque bacteria being left behind on the teeth and gums to create an unhealthy environment that your immune system cannot tolerate, therefore eventually your gums bleed, they are tender to touch, inflammation (swelling) occurs and you can get halitosis (bad breath).
  • Teeth polishing: Remove external stain (stain produced on the outside of the tooth structure from coffee, tea, red wine etc.)  that is not otherwise removed during scaling.  We have several flavor varieties and ways to provide a thorough and whiter smile result.  The traditional method polishing is accomplished by a specialized, rubber cup and prophylaxis paste that comes in different abrasive qualities.  We selected the specific abrasive quality for you (mild, medium or coarse).  We always try to select the ideal polish for your needs, example we have polishing paste if you have very sensitive teeth, or if you want your smile as "white" as possible or the ideal one for decay prevention; let us customize the treatment for you.  After your professional polishing, if your teeth are not the desired color you like, then let us discuss the other whitening methods to remove the internal stain (stain produced over time that is absored into the interior part of the tooth that cannot be removed during a polishing).  We can create an ideal, whiter, healthier smile for you in many different ways.   Please ask us how you would like to improve your smile!
  • Patient Education:  Truly, one of the most important issues is us sharing with you how to maintain your oral health.  We are here for you to diagnose and treat any concerns, however, we are focused on preventing future concerns/problems.  We are here to demonstrate and give you oral hygiene aids to maintain your healthy teeth and gums.  At each appointment, our hygienist will review with you the different adjuncts that are available to you and in your best interest to use and for us to discuss as a team which are the ones that best suit your needs and are the easiest for you to use long-term.  Our goal is to find what works for you and is accomplishing the healthy results we continue to see at your next regular maintenance visit.
  • Oral Cancer Screenings:  We do an extra-oral (on the facial bones/neck area) and intra-oral (within the mouth) cancer screening.  We palpapte (touch) on the skin, tissue and muscular areas to detect any nodule (lump or bump) that is usually located around the lymph nodes and is not associated with health.  Usually these areas are inflammed due to a cold/sore throat or viruses and will return to normal size after the illness.  Unfortunately, in some instances there are nodules that can be indications of a more serious matter:  oral cancer.  The best way to treat any cancer is early detection and we take this responsibility very seriously.  We are all at risk.  One out of four people who are diagnosed with oral cancer are non-smokers and non-drinkers.  This year alone (2010) in the United Stated 35,000 cases will be diagnosed and within five years 40% of those will not survive.  We hope you understand how important this examination is to your health and we provide this service incorporated within your hygiene visits with no additional fee.  If we do detect any areas of abnormal growth we have wonderful specialists in the field who can diagnose and properly care for any benign or malignant tumor.  For more information please go to www.cancer.org
  • Blood Pressue and Pulse:  We are health care providers and as such, we need to ensure that your vital signs are wnl (within normal limits) and that is the first step to your health.  We routinely measure your blood pressure and pulse.  We have the latest digital cuffs or if you prefer we do have the traditional, manual cuff and yes, we do have the large cuff size for accuracy.
  • Intra-Oral Camera:  Every operatory is specially equipped with an intra-oral fibre-optic camera in which we can take photographs of your teeth and give you a "virtual reality tour" of your mouth.  At times it can be very challenging to see towards the back of your mouth and we want to show you any areas of concern:  large, older silver fillings breaking down and leaking, inflammed gum tissues or fractures or cracks on your teeth.  This is an ideal way to educate you on your own teeth and gum issues and explain in detail what is going on.  Ofcourse we can print out any photos you would like and you can bring them home to explain to your spouse, parent or friend.  If any dental work is required, we want to ensure that you understand the true need and the quality dental work we perform to exceed your expectations.  And, if at any time, you have any questions, please let us know we will glady take the time and explain in detail any dental or periodontal services you may need.
  • Oral Hygiene Instruction:  Once we are able to assess any gingival concerns, we can take some time and show you and demonostrate for you any oral hygiene aid that could help you at home perform and maintain your healthy mouth.  We have aid to give you and samples of products to help you continue to maintain the your healthy status or even better to increase the health of mouth and your systemic health needs.