What dental hygiene delivers
Whoever goes for dental hygiene once or twice a year significantly reduces the risk of caries, periodontitis and consequently of implants, root canal treatments and tooth loss. The Swiss Dental Society recommends annual check-ups with dental hygiene as standard. For implant patients or with active periodontitis we recommend shorter intervals.
A full description of procedure and equipment is on our service overview for dental hygiene. This page describes the specific procedure in Winterthur.
60-minute sequence
Findings. Plaque and bleeding indices, probing of gum pockets with calibrated probes, digital documentation. With recurring patients comparison to the previous session.
Cleaning. Ultrasound for hard tartar, hand and powder-jet instruments (Air-Flow) for deposits in interdental spaces, on tooth necks and in pockets. Air-Flow works with fine erythritol or glycine powder and reaches areas hand instruments cannot.
Polishing. Tooth surfaces are smoothed with polishing paste. Smooth surfaces are less prone to plaque.
Fluoridation. Conclusion with fluoride gel or varnish to stabilize tooth enamel.
Training. Individual brushing technique demonstration and recommendations for interdental care.
If you have an implant
Implants need more care than natural teeth. The mucosa around the implant reacts more sensitively to deposits. We recommend implant patients two sessions per year. The implant shoulder is cleaned with powder jet and fine plastic curettes, never with metal instruments. If your implant was placed with us, you find all information on our implant page Winterthur.
Insurance
Swiss basic insurance does not cover dental hygiene. Supplementary insurance with dental care module (Helsana, SWICA, Visana, Sanitas and others) reimburses between a few hundred and several thousand francs per year depending on tariff. You receive the receipt after the session, EMR-recognized for direct billing.
When a session makes sense
If your last dental hygiene was more than a year ago. If your gums bleed when brushing. If deposits no longer brush off. If you have implants or a periodontitis history. If you have completed an Invisalign treatment and want to have the retainer checked.
Getting to the Winterthur practice
Resident Winterthur, Bahnhofplatz 5b, 8400 Winterthur. Directly at the main station, three minutes’ walk from the station exit. Patients come from the city center, Töss, Seen, Wülflingen, Oberwinterthur and the entire Winterthur district.
More on insurance and EMR
Reimbursability of dental hygiene through Swiss supplementary insurance depends on the tariff and on EMR recognition of the executing hygienist. At Resident all dental hygienists are EMR-registered. More on reimbursement logic in the article EMR and ASCA compared and on tariff selection in the article Which supplementary dental insurance is worthwhile.