Dental Hygiene at Züri zahni

In a professional teeth cleaning, which is regarded as part of dental hygiene, work is done on the tooth surfaces that lie above the gumline. They are freed of plaque and tartar, after which the interdental spaces are cleaned. Finally, all tooth surfaces are polished. This kind of cleaning falls within the remit of the prophylaxis assistant.

Dental hygiene additionally removes plaque and tartar located in the gum pockets or below the gumline. Only dentists and specially trained dental hygienists are permitted to carry out this form of cleaning.

The term prophylaxis refers to all measures taken for the prevention of disease of any kind. This includes both the daily tooth care or oral hygiene you carry out at home as a patient and the periodic professional cleaning and dental hygiene.

The cost of our prophylaxis depends on the work the treatment involves and is calculated in a clearly structured way according to the type of treatment.

Where periodontal conditions are healthy, we offer a flat rate of CHF 190.– (PA) or CHF 230.– (DH) per session.

For periodontitis treatment with pocket charting, billing is by time and individual service according to the SSO tariff.

Age-dependent flat rates apply for children:

- up to 6 years CHF 95.– - 6–12 years CHF 135.– - from 12 years CHF 190.– (same as adults, without braces)

With fixed appliances, prophylaxis costs CHF 135.– (good oral hygiene) or CHF 190.– (with poor oral hygiene or additional work).

In exceptional cases with heavy plaque build-up, subgingival tartar or very poor oral hygiene, the work involved may make a second session necessary – for example in two stages (upper/lower jaw) or split between PA and DH. In such cases the corresponding flat rate is charged again for the additional session.

We recommend one appointment a year for professional cleaning in the form of dental hygiene. Depending on your oral hygiene or dental health, however, up to four appointments a year may be necessary.

Even with good oral hygiene there are spots that are hard to reach when cleaning at home every day, so that the build-up of plaque and tartar is almost impossible to prevent.

If your oral hygiene is not sufficient, if you tend to form tartar or to pick up staining, if the position of your teeth makes daily oral hygiene difficult, or if you suffer from gum disease or gum inflammation, then we recommend going for dental hygiene two to four times a year.

For a dental hygiene appointment, please allow one hour of your time.

A dental hygiene appointment runs exactly as follows:

- To begin with, we use the ultrasonic device or mechanical hand instruments to remove carefully and gently the tartar and heavy staining that have built up above and below the gumline as well as in the gum pockets. - To achieve the best possible results, in a second step we use, for removing soft plaque and any remaining staining, an Air Polishing Device (Air-Flow from EMS). Often a small brush head with a coarse paste is used as well. - The interdental spaces are then cleaned with dental floss or fine interdental brushes. - In a final step, all teeth are polished with a fine-grained paste until the tooth surface shines beautifully again. - To finish the dental hygiene appointment, all tooth surfaces and grooves are painted with a fluoride varnish or fluoride gel to strengthen the enamel and thus help prevent decay.

After the dental hygiene appointment we recommend not eating or drinking for at least one hour.

We are happy to advise you on your personal oral hygiene and to give you tips for home, so that together we can achieve optimal oral health.

Dental hygiene is regarded as very low-risk.

If you have a congenital heart or heart valve defect, we recommend discussing beforehand with your dentist and your family doctor whether antibiotic cover is needed. During manipulation of the mucous membranes, bacteria can enter the bloodstream and provoke inflammation of the heart valves and the inner lining of the heart. Depending on the heart defect or on a procedure you have had, antibiotics must be taken one hour before dental procedures or before dental hygiene, in order to kill immediately any bacteria that enter the blood during treatment.

If you take blood-thinning medication you should tell your dentist and your dental hygienist, so that heavier bleeding during the dental hygiene appointment is interpreted correctly.

For adults we recommend brushing the teeth two to three times a day with a fluoride toothpaste — ideally in the morning, at midday and in the evening after eating.

For children we recommend brushing the teeth once a day in the first year of life, twice in the second and three times a day from the second year onwards — and until their sixth birthday we advise a fluoride toothpaste with an adjusted fluoride concentration, because spitting out does not work well yet and children often still swallow the toothpaste.

Thorough brushing takes 3 minutes and should always be done systematically, in the same order.

The interdental spaces should be cleaned daily with dental floss or interdental brushes to remove plaque.

You do not need to use toothpaste to clean between your teeth.

An electric toothbrush is considerably more efficient at cleaning than a conventional manual toothbrush. Among electric toothbrushes a distinction is made between oscillating toothbrushes and sonic toothbrushes. With the oscillating toothbrush a round brush head that rotates back and forth in a circular motion does the cleaning.

The sonic toothbrush has an elongated brush head and, by means of an electric sound transducer, generates a high frequency of movement which is then transferred to the brush head. The high-frequency movements loosen stubborn plaque and additionally flush through the interdental spaces.