What is Preventative Dental Care?

What is Preventative Dental Care?

Preventive Dentistry in Hickory, North Carolina

Maintain a Beautiful & Healthy Smile

Here at McKinney-Graham in Hickory, NC, part of creating well-crafted smiles means providing topnotch dental care, and we do everything we can to deliver you the most advanced dental treatments and options available in Hickory and surrounding areas.

We are pleased to offer comprehensive general and family dentistry in Hickory, NC, so you can feel confident that we can always provide the care your smile needs. We are dedicated to being a dental office for the whole family, meaning we know how to handle dental anxiety and how to make treatments as easy as possible for our patients, including children. Dr. McKinney and Dr. Graham, along with the rest of our skilled team, enjoy caring for patients of all ages at our office. We always welcome new patients, from children and teenagers to adults and seniors, to visit our practice for the dental care you need to achieve and maintain optimal oral health. No matter your treatment, our goal is to keep you comfortable and relaxed. We work together with you to come up with the best solutions that work for you.

About General and Preventative Dentistry

Dr. McKinney and Dr. Graham use the latest dental diagnostic technology to identify and stop potential decay and damage at the earliest stages.

Read more about our treatments to learn how you can get a well-crafted smile.

Dental Cleanings & Checkups

Good dental hygiene and detection of any problems early on can help you avoid more serious issues later, such as gum disease or tooth decay. Brushing and flossing are vital to having a healthy mouth, but no oral hygiene routine is complete without dental cleanings at least twice a year as part of a regular dental checkup. Dental cleaning is important to keep teeth clean and to help your body maintain oral health.

A professional dental cleaning every 6 months can greatly improve your oral health. Regular dental cleanings remove tarter and plaque buildup and reinforce your at-home oral care. Even more importantly, you will be examined for signs of cavities, gum disease, and oral cancer.

What is meant by Dental Cleaning and Prevention?

Just as you need to look after the rest of your body to look good, so you need to care for your teeth and gums. When you visit McKinney-Graham for your dental cleaning and prevention treatment, our team will examine your teeth fully and usually take a full set of x-rays at the same time; these will allow us to see what is going on inside your gums and jaw bone.

Once completed, we’ll evaluate the findings and put together a plan of action. This will involve you visiting the practice for regular check-ups. The treatment may include such things as:

• Cleaning and polishing your teeth
• Checking your gums
• Screening for oral cancer
• Taking X-rays
• Examining existing dental work

What are the benefits of Dental Cleaning and Prevention?

Cleaning and polishing: This will remove tartar from your teeth as well as plaque, which is formed from bacteria. If left in place, inflammation will eventually occur. He will then polish your teeth to make them look good, removing stains at the same time.

Evaluating your gums: Your gums and the bone underneath your teeth will be carefully checked to ensure that there are no problems or any disease developing.

X-rays: These will allow us to check inside your jaw bone and teeth for such things as bone loss, problems with development, teeth in the wrong position, tumors, abscesses and any other hidden problems.

Existing dental work: one of our dentists will check all fillings, crowns, bridges, implants etc. for any damage or signs of wear and tear.

McKinney-Graham Dental Arts wants to partner with you and your family to ensure that everyone can enjoy a lifetime of good oral health.

“Should I get an oral cancer screening?”

Did you know that thousands of people every year are diagnosed with oral cancer? This disease can be devastating and even deadly if left untreated for too long. That’s why diagnosing oral cancer in its earliest stages is so crucial to the treatment process. Dr. McKinney or Dr. Graham can quickly and comfortably scan for oral cancer as a part of your routine dental check-up. Your dentist will be looking for any tissue abnormalities that could suggest its presence. Call us today to schedule your exam.

Who should consider dental cleaning and prevention?

Everyone should consider having dental cleaning and preventative work on a regular basis. Good dental hygiene and detection of any problems early on can help you avoid more serious issues later, such as gum disease or tooth decay. This does not mean that you should not continue to take care of your teeth at home. As well as cleaning your teeth carefully you should always watch out for any signs of inflammation of the gums, damage to the teeth or possible oral disease.

By relying on digital X-rays, we’re able to make precise, detailed images of your teeth that are instantly accessible and offer an easy way to discuss your treatment plan and potential areas of concern. This way, our recommendations are easier to understand.

We invite you to come in for a dental check-up. Please contact us to schedule your preventive dental care appointment.

McKinney-Graham Dental Arts – Hickory’s Finest Cosmetic and Comprehensive Dental Practice

Hickory appreciates what is “well-crafted,” and we believe that’s exactly how our teeth should be. Two premier Hickory dentists join together as McKinney-Graham Dental Arts—in our state-of-the-art facility—to provide YOU with quality cosmetic treatments and comprehensive dental care for our Hickory community.