Preventative Care

Dental Hygiene

Oral health is related to your overall health.  Bacteria in the gums cause inflammation. The bacteria from your mouth are transported around your body, just like a highway, through your bloodstream.  Some diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s have been linked directly to poor oral health. 

If your gums bleed regularly, or you have bad breath this is a sign of gingivitis or gum disease.  If your fingernails bled regularly or you had a scab on your knee that kept bleeding you would see your doctor.  Gingivitis develops into periodontal disease which is painless but causes gum pockets, loose teeth and bone loss.   Periodontal disease is a sign of active infection and inflammation in the body.  It is a painless, aggressive disease, which if untreated, causes damage to the gums and bone loss.  If untreated, this can lead to the loss of teeth which affects your quality of life and the food that you are able to eat.  30% of Australians have gingivitis or periodontal disease which could be improved with some very simple preventative oral hygiene steps.

Regular brushing, flossing and 6 monthly examination and cleans with our Dentists and Oral Health Therapists are the best way to ensure your gums stay healthy and to reduce active infection in your body.  A clean by an Oral Health Therapist or Hygienist ensures that all of the plaque, residual food and bacteria are removed around all the tooth surfaces, and below the gum line if there are gum pockets.

As a new patient joining our practice our Oral Health Therapists will do a periodontal (gum) assessment and determine the health of your gums.  This will allow us to decide the type of clean that is most suitable for you and whether we need to space it over a couple of visits.  If you have periodontal disease we may need to refer you to a specialist and then work with them to implement a 3 or 4 monthly periodontal care programme at Kingston Beach Dental to get your oral health back on track and improve your general health.