ultrasonic cleaning anxiety

[lucky22]

I have been very anxious lately about upcoming dental checkup.

I usually have an ultrasonic cleaning but am anxious about some wear on my teeth and made mistake of googling about ultrasonic cleaners and read there is risk they can hurt sensitive teeth or cause cracks, wear enamel etc.

I do have craze lines and sensitive teeth, and worrying about some wear between front teeth...so just worried if ultrasonic cleaning can cause any wear or craze lines to get worse? How dirty must your teeth be to warrant a cleaning anyway?

I am also feeling stressed because i notice this seeming wear between two lower front teeth (I'm worried if it is wear from flossing each evening or is it some tartar giving a deceptive appearance of such? You can only see it at a low angle, in the past tart used to build up quite bad there but not since i am very attentive to cleaning it daily. I am terrified ultrasonic cleaning might knock chunks out of the tooth more where it looks worn?

Its led me to worry about flossing as (i am careful and not aggressive!), unlike the front my back chewing teeth are so close together i cant hardly get floss in there without accidently jarring the tooth (or getting stuck) which is very distressing when the tooth hurts and feels bruised for about an hour after.. causing panic attacks fearful i have damaged it. Its left me worrying if i don't floss its bad, and if i do it hurts or does damage due to how close together the teeth are. (i use the very thin floss)...nothing really gets stuck in there to get out anyway due to the closeness.

 

[Gordon]

I usually have an ultrasonic cleaning but am anxious about some wear on my teeth and made mistake of googling about ultrasonic cleaners and read there is risk they can hurt sensitive teeth or cause cracks, wear enamel etc.

Yes they can hurt sensitive teeth, they emphatically do NOT wear enamel or cause cracks.

I do have craze lines and sensitive teeth, and worrying about some wear between front teeth...so just worried if ultrasonic cleaning can cause any wear or craze lines to get worse? How dirty must your teeth be to warrant a cleaning anyway?

No they can't.
Most people will benefit from a quick scoot round with a scaler every now and then. How often is very dependent on the individual, some need it every few months, others every few years...

Your photo looks more like calculus than wear to me. You could try a TePe brush instead of floss for your back teeth.

 

[lucky22]

Thank you for your quick reply!

I have tried the tepe brush but even with the finest one they make it wont fit between.

I can insert it a little higher up from the side just near gumline gum (gently or you risk going at wrong angle and stabbing gum on other side of tooth!) but i am not sure how much use it is because there's never really any gunk there and I don't it could even get up there much because there is so little gap between the teeth and anything that comes in from the side can be brushed away.

Those tepe brushes can be useful in other spots though!