Cleaning Your Teeth Safely Following Treatment And Restorations

Most general teeth cleaning advice stands when you’ve received dental treatment, but additional care may be needed….
Hopefully, by now, most of you reading this blog will be very familiar with the importance of brushing and flossing your teeth well. Doing so is the bedrock of good oral health care, along with a sensible diet and regular check ups at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic to make sure that all is well.
This is good solid advice, but in today’s blog, we are going to take a look in more detail, about cleaning your teeth when they have been restored, such as with a filling or a crown, or during longer term treatments such as when you have to wear teeth braces. We hope that you will find this useful and, of course, if you have any questions about your treatment aftercare, please do call us so that we can assist.
Let us take a look then at special considerations that should be taken with specific treatments and restorations.
A filled tooth
When you have a filling, you should continue to brush and floss your teeth as you did before. Although the filling material itself won’t deteriorate, you should still brush it. This will help to maintain the natural colour if you have had a white tooth filling, and, for those who have amalgam fillings, it is worth remembering that amalgam can shrink over time and allow tiny gaps at the edges. Cleaning them well will help to reduce the risk of bacteria entering these small spaces.
Dental crowns
Again, a dental crown is made of an artificial material, often ceramic or porcelain. You should still clean all areas of the tooth and around the gum though. Brushing the crown will help to prevent any surface staining, but more importantly, the remaining natural part of the tooth needs to be brushed to help prevent any further decay. If this does occur, the crown may no longer be as secure and may need to be replaced.
Root canal procedures
A root canal filled tooth is essentially a ‘dead’ tooth as the nerves will have been removed during the procedure. Despite this, it can still last for many years and should be taken care of. Brushing and flossing should be sufficient for this tooth but do make sure to remember to do so and not dismiss it as a ‘failed’ tooth.
Dental implants
Dental implants replace both the crown and the root section of a tooth making it the most natural (and strongest) tooth replacement method currently available. Again, the crown part will not decay but should still be brushed to keep it clean. Special attention should be paid to ensuring that you clean around the gums well though. One of the biggest causes of a dental implant failing is gum disease and specifically periodontitis and peri-implantitis. If you look after your implant well with good cleaning and regular check ups at our Canterbury dental practice, your implant should give you many years of use.
Bridges
A bridge can be used to replace missing teeth. As with all restorations, they do need to be cleaned well. Cleaning underneath the bridge is especially important and we will be able to offer advice on this when you have your treatment at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic. In many cases, the use of floss or an interdental brush will suffice.
Veneers
As with other restorations that are attached to a tooth, porcelain veneers need to be cleaned well. Although porcelain is quite stain resistant, some surface staining might appear if you don’t brush your veneers correctly. As many people have these fitted for aesthetic reasons, it doesn’t make sense not to clean them diligently. Pay special attention to the rest of the natural tooth that the veneer is attached to as well. Any tooth decay may require a filling that changes the shape of the tooth enough for the veneers to become insecure and requiring replacement.
Orthodontics
Although not a restoration as such, orthodontic treatments are used to straighten your teeth. This treatment can take from several weeks to a year or more. Users of Invisalign style orthodontics have less concern as these ‘teeth aligners’ can be removed for brushing and flossing. Those who have the older ‘train track’ style braces will need to take special care to clean their teeth well while wearing them as food and bacteria can easily become trapped. We will offer specific cleaning advice to patients that use these types of dental braces.
Cleaning your teeth is a simple but essential thing to do. Doing so with restorations can sometimes mean a little additional care should be taken to preserve both the restoration and the rest of the remaining tooth as well. We hope that this guide has been of some use and if there is anything you would like to discuss with us about a restoration or if you feel that you might need one due to a current issue, please call our Canterbury dental clinic today on 01227 463529 so that we can help you.