Does Professional Dental Cleaning Widen The Gaps Between Your Teeth?

Posted on: 1 July 2022

If it has been a few years (or even longer) since you've had your teeth professionally cleaned, you might be surprised at how different your teeth look afterward. Although teeth whitening is not the objective, it's still one of the results. A professional dental cleaning removes a lot of the extrinsic (surface) stains from your enamel (the tough outer layer of your teeth), which makes your smile look whiter. But there can also be an unexpected development after cleaning. Why do the spaces between your teeth look bigger after a professional dental cleaning?

The Interdental Areas of Your Teeth

The spaces between your teeth are known as your interdental areas. You should be cleaning these areas as part of your oral hygiene measures—which can be accomplished with floss, an interdental brush, or a water flosser. But perhaps you've been neglecting these parts of your teeth, and have unknowingly been filling in the gaps—which shouldn't be happening.

Interdental Dental Plaque and Tartar

Failure to properly clean your interdental areas can allow dental plaque to accumulate on these sides of your teeth. Plaque is a bacterial microfilm, and if it's not removed, it becomes tartar (which is calcified plaque). The microfilm can continue to thicken until the gaps between your teeth narrow due to the presence of tartar. There may also be trapped food particles trapped in your interdental areas. Tartar must be professionally removed, as your toothbrush won't be able to budge it. By the time interdental plaque has taken hold, it's too late to begin flossing and expect it to deliver results.

A Return to Normality

Even though the new appearance of your smile might be a little surprising to you, it's actually an expected outcome for patients with significant tartar in their interdental areas. Your professional dental cleaning isn't technically widening the gaps between your teeth or changing the shape of your teeth, but the process is returning your teeth to their natural state. After your dentist or dental hygienist has cleaned your teeth, your interdental areas are exactly as wide and prominent as they should be. Professional dental cleaning may even uncover interdental cavities, which will be filled. 

Moving forward, you should maintain your interdental areas by cleaning them. If you find flossing to be too clumsy, you should opt for an interdental brush or water flosser, which can be kinder to your gums. And of course, you should be seeing your dentist regularly for professional dental cleaning. 

Contact a local office like Family Dentistry Of Woodstock for more information. 

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Providing Children With Dental Knowledge

When my three children were young, they were all excited to go to the dentist. The dentist's office was great fun with a large fish tank and a variety of puzzle toys in the waiting room. I liked the pediatric dental office so much that I jumped at the chance when I was offered a receptionist job. Many of the children who came to see the dentist were not nearly as happy as my children. Most kids were scared and anxious, and I learned fairly quickly that the children were worried because they had no idea what to expect. The dentist at the office provided me with a set of dental tools that I could show to the children. I explained how each of the devices worked. This eased the fears, and I started this blog so parents could share dental information with their children before dental visits.

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