Hygienist.. what to expect?

I'm having the general hygienist cleaning on Monday and I'm scared.
I have tarter mostly between teeth and in some grooves and below and at gum level.
I also have staining behind one tooth that I can see.

I'm not sure what a general cleaning consists of.
All I know is that they aren't supposed to go below the gum line?

I asked my dentist if I should take motrin before the cleaning and he said no that nothing should hurt.
Can anyone explain what is done?

I just had a root canal and 2 caps placed on top and the gums are all red and swollen and mangled yet and the root canal tooth is sensitive (well.. tons of pressure and any slight tap on it and it's like being punched in the tooth) one of the cap teeth is bonded to another tooth on one side. It's impossible to floss it. The dentist knows and said it's best to leave the composit on till I get my perm caps for extra support even though he perm cemented the temps on. Also one tooth I can floss down, but NOT pull the floss back up. It's because of the new composite filling.

I'm afraid she's going to hurt my temp crowns and try to force floss where it can't go/ and or can't come back up and out. I'm afraid of her scrubbing the gums that are red and inflammed over my caps.. I have new tissue trying to grow back there. Heck I won't even scrub them.. it's too sensitive. The dentist siad she will clean those gums and that it'll heal faster if she does. BUt if they are red and imflamed and are sore.. wouldn't that irritate them more?

This is making me nervous. Does anyone know what they do and don't do during a general cleaning??Thanks.. I'm starting to wig out. =(

I had a cleaning the same day I had two temps put in. The dental hygienist cleaning every tooth except those two.

Hopefully, you will have the same caring sensitive hygienist I did.
Ask questions. Remember, you are in control.

If something is uncomfortable, raise your hand and say so.
Don't just sit there and suffer.

No one has to do that anymore. Thank god it's 2006.

good luck
mel

The cleaning is very easy. A good hygienist should be very gentle, and as caring and considerate about your comfort as your dentist is, if not more so. If you find your teeth are very sensitive during the cleaning, you can ask for local anesthetic (as long as the shot does not bother you). If you don't like needles, you could also ask for nitrous. The only reason you should be in pain is if you don't speak up, and that of course would be your own fault! i know lots of people who need numbing before cleanings. It is routine. Don't feel bad if you find that you need it too. Good luck!

Injections for a general cleaning? I was told by the receptionist that for that they do not clean below the gums and isn't a deep cleaning and that I wouldn't need injections. The dentist told me that I wouldn't even need my motrin... but I'm taking motrin anyways I think and a valium (the dentist perscribed the valium for the cleaning because I asked for it)

What I don't know is will they remove tarter at and above the gumline.. or is a cleaning just like using an electric brush or something? Or are they using a water pik? What is a floride treatment like nowadays?

I only remember one cleaning ever in my life and all I can remember is rough vibrations and these trays of floride that leaked Tropical fruit orajel like stuff down the back of my throat and I had to hold the syrofoam trays in my mouth while I was drooling massive amounts of salvia and couldn't move and had to have the trays sit there. I don't think they removed tarter calculus because as a kid I didn't have any. Do they still use the floride tray method?

Oh and how long does a general cleaning take?
I'm worried I'll be sitting with my mouth open for an hour.

kitty said:

The only reason you should be in pain is if you don't speak up, and that of course would be your own fault!  

Click to expand...

That's a teeny tiny bit judgemental - lots of people actually have trouble speaking up even it they want to. It's probably easier for such people to speak up if the hygienist asks if you are okay from time to time but some may still find it difficult.

Also there's what I experienced recently where it's painful in bits and just as you think, I really must object to this, they move onto another tooth...and so on....As a whole, it still added up to an unpleasant rough experience  ; and my body language would have told her I wasn't happy anyway - I went from being completely relaxed to extremely tense - this incident actually tipped me onto this website - as this was my worst dental experience since 1972 (anaesthetic refusal - very bad).

I even got flashbacks during it and honestly I thought I had left that far behind me because in the intervening years I had got over all my fears and found it easy to obtain painless dentistry in the UK NHS and privately. I am currently living in Holland and am on a promise of a gentle clean in September at the new practice I have registered with! Quote from my second (and hopefully last) Dutch dentist : 'There is absolutely no need to hurt a patient when you clean their teeth; and if you don't like the ultrasonic scaler we can do it the old way'

By the way arry, don't worry - it shouldn't hurt - it isn't supposed to; and if you are especially sensitive (I'd never had any problems before in the UK) you can get anaesthesia at some practices. I don't think that should be necessary in general though..if they try to be gentle.
All the best.

Hi Arry:

I recently posted about my cleaning experience when I had my two temporary crowns put in.
But two weeks ago (that was six months after the first cleaning, I had to go back for my sixth month cleaning. Believe me, because I am phobic, I wouldn't willingly go to any dentist but because my new dentist is a phobia dentist (he's a clinical professor of Mount Sinai's Phobia Clinic in NYC), because he knows what he is doing, I have had to change my way of thinking.

Not easy when you have been frightened for 58 years and believe me when I say I have neglected my teeth. I brushed and flossed like crazy but nothing beats a cleaning and treatment by a competent hygienist and a good caring dentist.

So two weeks ago I went for my "general cleaning". not a deep root cleaning, where they numb the various quadrants and do under the gumline thing.

so she puts the gel all over the place to numb me up temporarily and she did her thing. Of course I had my anxiety all over the place but I took half a xanax (really didn't do anything), when you're phobic, you are phobic and the adrenalin pumps in your system.

But I sat there because I trusted her and I said (I always say this). "you do know I'm phobic, right", "you do know I'm petrified that you'll hurt me, right". I say this because I HAVE TO SAY THIS. I have to let her know one final time that I have fears and that she must acknowledge them. She says "yes I know, don't worry, And that immediately puts me in trust mode.

So she puts the topical tell on and proceeds to do the cleaning and scrapes the tartar off. She has to go in between the teeth some time and there are some sensitive spots so I just say "oh, watch that and she puts more gel on". But there really is NO MAJOR PAIN OR DISCOMFORT, only MY FEAR OF WHAT SHE WILL DO!!! That's the kicker. It's the apprehension of WHAT MAY HAPPEN.

When she got to my upper back molars (I have one wisdom tooth there), she couldnt do the job she wanted to to as I have tartar back there and that's where people get their bad tartar problems. I remember looking in the mirror most of my life at one of my big back teeth and the color was really something. All blotchy, (no other way to describe it).
So she's scraping and not being happy with her work and my dentist walks in and she tells him "I can't really do a good job on her back teeth because she's sensitive there". And I go to my dentist (I really love this guy). "why not wand me". (The wand is the very latest technology in numbing, no more needles, no more syringes, look it up on the internet and you'll be fascinated). So my dentist goes. "oh melody, what a good idea, he goes into his treatment room, brings in the wand machine, programs it to whatever level of novocaine I will need for my two back upper teeth, he takes the pen like device that is connected to the base unit by a ultra long wire thing, He just places the pen like device wherever he wishes the novocaine to be administered, and in two minutes I am completely numb. I have all my crowns and stuff done in this office only using the Wand. he no longer uses syringes.

You DO NOT FEEL ANYTHING WHILE YOU ARE BEING NUMBED UP! that's the beauty of this machine. I know that not all dentists use this but I believe that for phobics like ourselves, it's a necessity. But if you get a guy who knows how to administer a novocaine injections, it should be no problem because it's not the needle that you feel, it's when he plunges the stuff into your gum. If your dentist is competent (but does not the wand yet), if your dentist numbs the area locally with a gel, then gives you the shot, it should be no major thing, believe me.

So there I was, the back upper part of my mouth numb, she goes to tgwn with her tools, then she does the cavitron thing on the rest of my teeth, then she uses the polisher.

Well, when I looked in the mirror and looked at my back teeth you should have seen what was taken off.


Then she shows me the Oral B professional 8850 DLX electronic tooth brush that is on their display case. I told her "well, I use a battery operated electric toothbrush. She pulled out exactly the one I've been using, she puts them side by side, She turns them both on and simply says to me "which one do you think will take off plaque better".

I just looked at her.

I went home, went on ebay the next day and won an auction for the Oral B Professional Care 8850 DLX. (they have other models on ebay).
This particular model sells in Target Store (and my local CVS for 129.99. it has a sensor that beeps that tells you to brush all surfaces. It has a speed operating system for slower speeds up to the highest speeds. it comes with different heads, with a flossing head, with a tongue head, this head and that head.
What did I pay on ebay for this thing, brand new and sealed??? All of $34.00.

Me and my husband have been using it for over 10 days now. Our teeth never looked better and as a proof of this, my husband was at his podiatrist the other day and the podiatrist looked at him and said "Alan, what's with your teeth, they look so clean"

Nuff said!!!

This thing is amazing.

So don't worry about your cleaning. Go and take care of your mouth!!!

All my best.

Love, Melody