Beyond improving every patient’s smile and health, ARCHPOINT’s specialists also provide additional hygiene and maintenance services that other dental implant centers do not offer.
Our relationship with our patients does not end with the delivery of final restorations. In fact, it is recommended that dental implant patients complete a specialized routine cleaning every six months to ensure the longevity of your implants. We are committed to your dental implant success by offering hygiene and maintenance for the long term.
Once you have dental implants, it is critical that you take care of them. If you do, your implants will last you for many years and may never even need to be replaced. Some implants are made of materials requiring cleanings more often than others. Acrylic replacement teeth, for example, are more likely to absorb odors and stains than porcelain ones. This means you need to brush regularly! There are some different things we do to make sure your replacement teeth are kept in good shape when you come to see us.
At-Home Dental Implant Cleaning
First, always make sure you brush and floss as you normally do. This helps keep your implants free of debris, stains, and plaque. While your implants are made from durable materials, they can still be worn down over time if you do not keep them clean.
Professional Dental Implant Cleaning
Even if you have had all of your natural teeth replaced, we still want to see you regularly. In addition to giving your replacement teeth a good, professional cleaning, we also need to check on your implants to make sure everything is as it should be. Although it is uncommon, your replacement teeth may also require adjusting, now and then, as your face changes with aging. Over the years, you may find that your replacement teeth do not quite fit right anymore.
When you come in for a cleaning, you will notice that we use special equipment to clean your implants and the area around them. These tools are different from what is used for cleaning natural teeth because your replacement teeth are made of different materials and connected to your gums and jawbone differently from natural teeth.
The Necessary Tools
The tools used to clean your teeth are designed to clean the implant, abutment, and crown without causing any damage to them. It is important these tools do not scratch the surface of the crown or abutment. If they do, it is possible bacteria can get into these scratches, multiply, and lead to gum infection.
The tools used to clean your implants are called curettes and scalers. These tools are made out of resin, or plastic, instead of metal, which prevents your replacement teeth from being scratched. For our powered tools, any part coming into contact with the crowns or abutment uses plastic or nylon for the tip. These tools clean the teeth by using a high-frequency vibration, so scratching rarely occurs.
The implants, themselves, do not require cleaning because they are completely set within the bone and covered by the gum. If any part of the implant happens to be exposed, we will use a soft brush to clean the area around the implant. We may need to use other specialty tools to remove any contaminant that has built up around the implant, but this is rarely required.
Because these unique tools are required for properly cleaning implants, we stress that you should only clean your implants with a toothbrush and dental floss. If you believe your implants need deeper cleaning, always contact us before using any other cleaning instrument.
