Teeth Cleaning
Teeth Cleaning in Tukwila
Creating the Brightest Smiles
Many of the foods and drinks we love, can stain or damage our teeth. As we age, our teeth may begin to lose enamel or suffer from a variety of different oral health issues. Even the most avid brushers, flossers, and mouth rinsers can experience drastic changes to their teeth due to their diet or genetics.
Maintain good oral hygiene with the teeth cleaning treatments and expert team at Smiles @ Southcenter.
What We Offer
Most dental insurances will cover up to 2 annual teeth cleanings per year. For patients without dental insurance, we offer convenient and affordable dental membership plans.
- Experienced, gentle, and friendly hygienists
- Convenient Saturday appointments
- Pain-free sedation dental care
- A state of the art facility
- Dental membership plans for those without the benefit of insurance
- All of your dental needs taken care of in a single location
- Convenient location near Southcenter Mall with easy access to I-5 and I-405
- Flexible appointment scheduling
To make your appointment more comfortable, we offer headphones, blankets, pillows, and dark glasses.
Give us a call today to schedule your teeth cleaning!
Importance of Regular Teeth Cleanings
So why do you really need to get your teeth cleaned at least twice a year? Regular dental visits are very important because they keep your teeth and gums healthy. Only a dental professional can remove plaque build-up from those hard-to-reach places that regular brushing and flossing can’t access. When you eat or drink, some of the particles get stuck on and around your teeth. If you don’t remove them, the bacteria in your mouth will break down the particles into acids and those acids will eat away at the enamel and cause tooth decay. Plaque not only causes cavities it also causes periodontal (gum) disease which is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults.
We believe that your smile is something you should be proud of. Don’t let another day go by without regular teeth cleaning services. Regular teeth cleanings, at least twice a year, at Smiles @ Southcenter combined with good oral hygiene habits at home, can prevent dental decay, bad breath, gum disease, and help your overall health. In fact, researchers have found regular teeth cleanings can lower your risk for some diseases like heart disease and stroke.
Protect Your Oral Health
If you want to protect your oral health, making appointments to have your teeth cleaned every six months is a must. Routine cleanings will help reduce plaque buildup, make you less likely to develop cavities, keep your teeth looking bright and clean, and lower your odds of developing gum disease. Many people who come in think teeth cleaning just polishes the tooth enamel above the gum line. But problem-causing plaque often exists below the gum line, too. If the bacteria is not removed, it can destroy the bone supporting your teeth, causing the teeth to loosen and fall out.
Tartar Removal
First, our dental hygienist will use a special instrument known as a dental scaler to remove the tartar that has built up on your teeth. While daily brushing and flossing go a long way toward protecting your teeth from plaque, you’ll need to rely on your dentist to remove tartar, which is the hardened form that plaque takes when it has been left on your teeth too long.
Teeth Polishing
After removing plaque and tartar from your teeth, our dental hygienist will use a special toothpaste and power toothbrush to polish them. This isn’t like the routine brushing you do at home—it’s a more advanced procedure that involves smoothing out the surfaces of your teeth, so it will be harder for tartar to develop there again.
Dental Flossing
Just as you floss at home, our dental hygienist will floss between your teeth after polishing them to ensure that the spaces between your teeth are clean. If you have any questions about proper flossing techniques or which type of dental floss you should be using, now is a great time to ask them.
Visual Inspection
Before your cleaning is complete, one of our dentists will carefully examine your teeth and gums to make sure that they are healthy. We will also check for any signs of periodontal disease, oral cancer, and tooth misalignment issues. If you haven’t had dental X-rays taken in a while, we may recommend that you have them done.
Creating Healthy, Happy Smiles
Types of Teeth Cleaning
There are 3 main types of teeth cleaning that essentially all accomplish the same thing – cleaner teeth – but are performed differently and for different reasons.
Prophylaxis (aka regular dental teeth cleaning)
A prophylaxis or routine cleaning, as it is commonly called, is the most common type of teeth cleaning and is done typically at least twice a year to prevent dental problems such as gum disease or bone loss. It is designed to perform routine maintenance like removing tartar and plaque from the surface of gums, teeth, and in between teeth. Individuals with an overall healthy mouth mainly get this type of teeth cleaning.
Periodontal Scaling & Root Planing (aka deep teeth cleaning)
Scaling and root planing, also known as deep teeth cleaning, is a slightly more invasive cleaning procedure that involves a deep cleaning of the gums, gum line, and other supporting teeth structures. When an excess amount of plaque builds up over time and is not properly cleaned off, it can harden and turn into tartar or calculus and requires a more invasive type of cleaning to remove. This type of cleaning is generally only administered to patients at a high risk of developing gum disease or individuals who have already developed gum disease.
Gross Debridement
If you have not visited the dentist in a while, such as more than a year, it is likely you would get a gross debridement from the dentist. This type of dental cleaning procedure helps a dentist determine if there are any teeth issues that were not initially noticed before the teeth cleaning or if you have developed a build-up of hardened plaque on the surface of the teeth. This procedure helps the dentist accurately assess the condition of your gums, bone, and teeth.
A gross debridement is generally needed if you have not had your teeth cleaned by a dentist in over a year, have a thick build-up of plaque or tartar on your teeth, or if the build-up is below your gum line.
What Can Happen If You Don’t Get Your Teeth Cleaned Regularly?
We understand that visiting the dentist can be anxiety-inducing or even hard to fit into your schedule or even something that doesn’t seem that important. But there are multiple reasons that we recommend at the very least coming in twice a year to get your teeth cleaned.
The ultimate goal of regular teeth cleaning is to ward off any mouth problems. Here are some of the things that you risk by continually missing dental cleanings.
- Cavities and tooth decay
- Gum disease
- Bad breath
- Loss of teeth
- Risk of oral cancer
- Pregnancy complications
- Risk to overall health
In addition to oral hygiene conditions, poor oral hygiene has been linked to a wide range of health conditions that include heart attack, stroke, diabetes complications, and high blood pressure.
It is never too late to schedule your teeth cleaning appointment – even if it’s been a while. Regular teeth cleanings, coupled with dental exams and x-rays once a year, not only help keep your teeth and gums healthy they also help identify potential oral problems before they become expensive-to-treat dental problems and help keep your overall health in good shape.
Patient Testimonials
I’ve been going here since I was a kid, and I hope I never have to change dentists! They know me so well, remember thoughtful details about my life, and are supportive and encourage dental hygiene in a way that makes me actually WANT to floss and do the best I can.
I've never found a dentist that eased my anxiety and delt with my issues at hand. Dr. Miller was just amazing. I've already decided he's my dentist. I've NEVER said this words before due to my fear. All i can say is thank you to Margaret in the office for her suthing approach with my needs. Thank you all so much. This is the dentist office of champions!!!!! Dr. Miller. Rocks
I love this dentist office so much! After researching for a new dentist, I found this one & read the reviews. For my personal experience it was everything and more. Dr.Vu is personalble & genuinely wants you happy with your smile.
I've been seeing Dr Miller for about 4 years now and it's the only time I've had routine dentist visits in my adult life. All the staff is great, they make me comfortable. Dr Miller even did my wisdom tooth extraction.
Wonderful facility and staff. Caring, professional and state of the art. You know you are in good hands here. I don't have insurance and their membership plan was a great option for me and cheaper. Wish I had come here sooner!
Smiles @ Southcenter
Address
15425 53rd Ave S
Tukwila, WA 98188
Phone
206-575-9150Hours of Operation
Monday: 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tuesday: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday: 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Friday: 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Saturday: 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM