“Hi, I need to make an appointment; it’s just for a cleaning.” We hear this at our office every day. And that’s a perfectly valid response to something that, quite often, isn’t perceived as all that important. Sure you’ve been told time and again you need to go twice a year to keep your teeth healthy, but do you really know why? Do you know the many things that go into a hygiene visit and why they happen? Let’s take a walk through our office’s typical hygiene visit to see exactly why we do what we do.

Chances are we’ve all had canker sores (or to get technical, aphthous stomatitis). These annoyances present as painful sores inside the mouth, including the tongue, soft palate and inside of the cheek. You may notice a tingling or burning sensation just prior to their development, and once there you’ll notice round white or gray lesions with a bright red border. Severe cases may even result in fever, physical lethargy and swollen lymph nodes – basically all the classic signs your body is fighting something more substantial.