Dental hygienist/staining removal

scottishminnie

I’ll start by saying I feel really stupid as I seem to have created a problem unnecessarily and am now looking for guidance.

About 15 months ago my long term (25years or so) dentist retired and I had to find another practice. All fine, registered with a new (nhs) dentist and had a check up. He recommended the services of a hygienist at his practice (previous dentist was a one man band so had never been offered this before). Since July 18 I have been seeing the hygienist every 10 weeks. its not NHS (not sure that’s relevant).

On the first visit the hygienist recommended I use corsodyl mouthwash twice a day in addition to my Pik water flosser and my tepee brushes. She also told me to use much larger tepee brushes than I was using. I questioned that as it feels counter intuitive to force brushes through where I am already concerned about gaps however she insists that I should use the largest possible even if it means a bit pushing to get it through.

On each visit since she has mentioned that I have really bad staining (which is horribly visible) due to the mouthwash but that’s ok, she will try to clean it and to continue using the Corsodyl.

I started searching the internet to see what I could try to remove the staining ( my previously nice white teeth are now disgustingly stained) and am more than a bit alarmed to find I should only use the mouthwash for up to 4 weeks. I’ve now been using it for 15 months.

My questions are have I caused permanent staining and can I lessen it in any way?

Obviously I will have a conversation with the hygienist however she is on holiday for 5 weeks and I don’t want to make my problem any worse. I can’t believe I didn’t think to ask more questions however never having experienced a hygienist services beforehand I simply did as suggested.

Toothsmith

You should use it for 4 weeks - unless otherwise advised by a dental care professional. So if your hygienist has advised you to use it, that trumps what you've read on the internet.

What you need to get on top of is the reason that she has advised it. I'm assuming it's because she's worried about the health of your gums.

All chlorhexidine mouthwashes will stain your teeth quite badly - but it's the matrix of plaque building up that gets stained, not the teeth themselves - so if your plaque removal was good - the staining would be much less. Also, if your plaque removal was good, the need for the chlorhexidine mouthwash would be gone as well! That's why the hygienist can clean it away.

Having to see the hygienist every 10 weeks also suggests your own cleaning routine isn't as effective as it should be.

Maybe ask the hygienist if you could have an appointment dedicated to her watching exactly what you do each time, and offering tips on how to improve it? It does take an awful lot of time to clean teeth effectively yourself. Even more so if they have been affected by gum disease, as the gaps between the teeth are then much bigger because of the damage caused.

Just remember, if you do have such an appointment - it would only be worthwhile if you brush your teeth in front of her exactly like you do at home. No point spending 10 mins getting every nook and cranny in front of her if at home you just do 2 mins and promise yourself you'll use the interdental ones tomorrow!

scottishminnie

Thanks. I'll see what she says on her return.

We've had a lengthy discussion around how I cleaned my teeth
Previously. For over 10 years, on the recommendation if the previous dentist, I used the water flosser first followed by the brushes and finally 5 minutes with an electric toothbrush. The 5 minutes was the minimum he advised and I have a little timer to ensure I don't fall short. Twice a day at least, sometimes if I'm at home I'll clean mid day too.
The hygienist seemed to think I may have created some of the gaps by over zealous cleaning with hard brush heads but that easy what I'd been shown.

It's very disheartening to now feel I've utterly failed in what I believed were stringent efforts.

Thanks for the guidance.