Even the most ardent of'teeth brushers and flossers', if you're able to call them that, have a difficult time maintaining plaque . Regular brushing and flossing can radically reduce the accumulation of plaque on your teeth but it cannot keep you completely free from it. Along with maintaining oral hygiene practices at home, a regular professional teeth cleaning will make sure that your teeth stay in good form.

The initial yellow stains you notice on your teeth are the first signs of plaque. Plaque results from deposits of food particles which, if not brushed out properly, leads to tartar. Within a period of time the increasing levels of plaque react with all the saliva in the mouth to form tartar. So all you need to do to prevent its development is to brush and brush thoroughly after every meal.

After tartar takes hold, it is a small step to gingivitis, which is an inflammation of the gums. Even this can be treated, to a large extent, without much distress or pain with a dentist. However, if you depart gingivitis untreated you are begging for periodontal disease, which can be something you do not want to do!

Periodontal disease can cause loss of bone that supports your teeth and then the loss of the tooth itself. It is, therefore, very important that you know that the health of your teeth rests in your hands. If you follow good dental hygiene and maintain a close eye on your teeth, odds are you may need dental cleaning just once or twice annually.

Dental teeth cleaning has made huge strides in the past couple of years and the procedure can be completed in only one sitting. Dentists prefer the use of ultrasonic cleaning equipment, which accelerate the process and does a better job than many hand tools. This equipment cleans not just your teeth, but also the regions beneath the gum line, and between teeth.

It produces very gentle ultrasonic vibrations at high rate. Normally, you will not need even a local anaesthetic as it's a painless procedure. If there is some amount of gum damage then your dentist will give you a chance to numb the area.

Once the first cleaning is completed, a rotary machine is used with the application of a small toothpaste. This attempts to remove the plaque that may still stay under the uterus. Additionally, it polishes the tooth thoroughly to retard future buildup of plaque. Then your dentist would floss between the teeth to get rid of any hard to achieve plaque.

So dental teeth cleaning is effectively a combination of ultrasonic cleaning, rotary brushing, and flossing. You will be able to see immediate effects on completion of the cleaning. There are no side-effects to getting your teeth cleaned. The one thing that could happen is loosening of your crowns or fillings, which is infrequent and the only reason that may happen is if your fillings are already weak.

Let your dentist be the best estimate of when you will need expert cleaning. Getting your teeth cleaned professionally once every so often can only be good for your teeth.