Is an Electric Toothbrush Right for You?

We want patients at Dr. Joseph Dallessandro’s Midtown dental office to feel confident in their oral hygiene products. There is a vast array of toothbrushes out there, so we’ve provided this guide to help our patients with one of the most difficult decisions: whether or not to go electric.

A manual toothbrush must be used for two minutes during each session to be effective. Electric toothbrushes make tens of thousands of strokes per minute, which cuts down on time. While studies have not shown manual toothbrushes to be any less effective when used properly, people with problems moving their hands or maintaining focus benefit from saved labor.

An electric toothbrush still has to be used on every tooth surface, but many now come with apps and Bluetooth technology that make that easier. Besides alerting users of when they miss a spot, toothbrushes can also be programmed to send warnings if the user is brushing too hard and to provide feedback on improved technique. Some also come with games for mobile devices that encourage better brushing habits in children.

Joseph S. Dallessandro, DDS, and Jiah Choi, DDS, operate at 360 E 72nd St, Ste B, New York, New York, 10021. To set up an appointment, call 212-988-1089, or visit Joseph Dallessandro DDS and fill out a contact sheet.

 

Dental Instruments

The Midtown office of Dr. Joseph Dallessandro is fully equipped to meet all of our patients’ general dentistry needs. There are a number of specialized tools we use to conduct diagnostics and fight decay, and in order to get patients more comfortable with oral care, we wanted to explain how some of them work.

The explorer, or probe, is the tool the patient will see us use the most often, along with the mouth mirror. The explorer has a hook at the end and is used to scrape small amounts of tartar. We use it to determine whether spots with decay still have active infections and whether tartar has accumulated beneath the gum line. Scalers are also hooked instruments that are used to scrape tartar out of the gum pockets. Hooked instruments come in a variety of shapes for different kinds of teeth.

If a tooth has decay, a drill is used to remove the damaged part. A dentist may also mix material for the filling on a tiny spatula and shape it onto the tooth with a placement instrument, which is a metal hook that flattens out at the end. When a tooth needs to be replaced, dentists use a spoon-like instrument called an elevator to loosen it and forceps to pull it the rest of the way out. The socket is then scraped clean of debris.

Joseph S. Dallessandro, DDS, and Jiah Choi, DDS, operate at 360 E 72nd St, Ste B, New York, New York, 10021. To set up an appointment, call 212-988-1089, or visit Joseph Dallessandro DDS and fill out a contact sheet.