Thorough and Safe Dental Cleaning Services for South Vancouver

Serving South Vancouver and other cities nearby, Acqua Dental Centre cares about your oral health. Explore the different types of preventive services in the following section, including: 

• Dental exams and cleanings
• Digital X-rays
• Fluoride treatments
• Home care
• How to properly brush and floss
• Oral hygiene aids
• Panoramic X-Rays
• Sealants
• VELscope® oral cancer screening

If you have any questions about dental cleaning and/or prevention, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Emergency appointment available during business hours only.

Dental Exams and Cleanings

At your initial dental visit, your dentist will perform a comprehensive dental exam, whereas at regular checkup exams, both your dentist and hygienist will include oral cancer screening and gum disease evaluation, as well as examinations of:

• Diagnostic x-rays 
• Tooth decay
• Existing restorations

For a cleaning appointment, you will receive a dental exam, along with the following steps by a registered dental hygienist, including:

• Tartar removal
• Plaque removal
• Teeth polishing

Digital X-rays

For new patients, we recommend a full mouth series of dental X-rays. However, if you are an existing patient, it will vary depending on your specific dental health needs. To safely and accurately detect hidden dental abnormalities and in order to provide a complete and accurate treatment plan, we use dental X-rays to find valuable information during your regular exam. Used as an essential, preventative, diagnostic tool, they may reveal:

• Bone loss
• Cancerous and non-cancerous tumours
• Decay between your teeth
• Problems inside a tooth or below the gum line

Fluoride Treatments

As the most effective agent available to help prevent tooth decay, fluoride works in 2 ways: topical and systemic. For over 50 years, many health and professional organizations have supported the fact that fluoride offers many benefits. To name a few, here are some reasons why, such as:

• Recent history of dental decay
• Frequent sugar and carbohydrate intake
• Fair to poor oral hygiene habits
• Exposed and sensitive root surfaces

Also, remember that fluoride alone won’t prevent tooth decay, so keep reading more about our tips on home care and proper teeth brushing, as well as flossing.

Home Care

Our ultimate goal is that you have a beautiful, healthy smile that lasts a lifetime. For this goal to be achieved, your own personal home care plays an important role from reducing the number of snacks you eat to correctly using various dental aids. Your home care should include:

• Tooth brushing at least twice a day, especially before going to bed at night
• Flossing daily prevents damage to your gums, teeth, and bone
• Rinsing is important to do after brushing, and also after meals if you are unable to brush for whatever reason

How to Properly Brush and Floss

When it comes to oral hygiene, brushing and flossing are the most important actions you can take. You should brush your teeth at least twice a day, ideally in the morning and before bed. Then, flossing is as important since it is a tool for preventing periodontal disease and limiting the depth of your gum pockets. Proper brushing and flossing will help prevent:

• Tooth decay
• Periodontal disease
• Halitosis
• Staining

Oral Hygiene Aids

While regular dental checkups are essential to maintain excellent oral hygiene, you can’t approach them as a fix-all solution. That’s why you must keep with your oral homecare routines on a daily basis to avoid dental problems, such as periodontal disease which is the leading cause of tooth loss in the developed world. The most common oral hygiene aids you can turn to are:

• Dental flosses
• Interdental cleaners
• Mouth rinses
• Oral irrigators
• Rubber tip stimulators
• Tongue cleaners
• Toothbrushes

Panoramic X-Rays

Also known as Panorex® or orthopantomograms, panoramix X-rays are wrap-around photographs of your face and teeth, exposing hidden structures that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. Only taken on a case-by-case basis, these x-rays provide a better view of your sinus areas, nasal areas, and mandibular nerve. They are also used to:

• Reveal gum disease and cavities
• Expose impacted teeth
• Expose jawbone fractures
• Assess patients with an extreme gag reflex
• Evaluate the progression of TMJ
• Expose cysts and abnormalities 
• Plan treatment (full and partial dentures, braces, and implants)

Sealants

More than 75% of dental decay begins in these deep grooves in teeth. To protect your teeth, we can apply a sealant which is a thin, plastic coating applied to the chewing surface of molars, premolars, and any deep grooves. While sealants can protect your teeth for many years, you still need to get them checked for wear and chipping during your regular dental visits. Some reasons to consider sealants include:

• Children and teenagers: as soon as the 6-year molars (the first permanent back teeth) appear or any time throughout the cavity prone years between 6-16 years old
• Adults: tooth surfaces without decay that have deep grooves or depressions
• Baby teeth: occasionally done if teeth have deep grooves or depressions and child is cavity-prone

VELscope® Oral Cancer Screening

The VELscope® examination is a painless and noninvasive procedure that saves many lives every single year, and only takes 2 or 3 minutes. To best stay protected, you should get an annual oral cancer screening, which most dentists perform during a regular dental checkup. Some of the advantages of using the VELscope® System include:

• Detects problem areas that cannot be seen under white light
• Exposes precancerous and cancerous tissue
• FDA-approved
• Helps dentists check that diseased soft tissue is completely removed
• Helps diagnose oral cancer in its earliest stages, exponentially increasing the chance of survival

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Dental prevention is important, so book your dental exam or cleaning with our scheduling coordinator today, or feel free to ask us any questions about your home care, including proper teeth brushing or flossing.