Dental Exams & Cleanings
Seeing you for exams and teeth cleanings at our Albuquerque dental office every six months is the best way to prevent cavities and gum disease from damaging your oral health. A good rule to remember is that it is always better for your oral health and budget to be proactive with these appointments.
Dr. Corey Woods likes to see his patients for dental exams and teeth cleanings every six months, and the American Dental Association agrees with this recommendation. These appointments are necessary every six months, even if your teeth feel okay. The reason is that a cavity can be developing, and finding it before it damages your tooth can spare you the pain and discomfort of a toothache.
Why We Stress Preventive Dentistry
It can be difficult to live your very best life when you are plagued by dental problems. Fortunately, with a little effort on your part, cavities, gingivitis, and failing or broken teeth are all preventable.
However, your oral health isn’t the only thing at risk when you experience these problems. What takes place in your mouth affects other parts of your body, and numerous studies like chronic gum infections to heart and lung disease, stroke, diabetes, dementia, arthritis, and others.
Comprehensive Dental Exams
The purpose of your six-month dental checkups is to check the condition of your teeth and gums, do a head and neck exam, and perform an oral cancer screening.
If you have questions or concerns about your oral health, this is the perfect time to share them with us. Your appointment time is devoted entirely to you, and we will give you our full and undivided attention.
If we detect a cavity or broken or worn teeth, our Albuquerque dentist will create a customized treatment plan to restore your smile. Because transparency and honesty in everything we do matters, we include you in the decision-making process and will never push you or try to sell you a service that you don’t want or need.
Teeth Cleanings for Excellent Gum Health
If your gums aren’t healthy, your smile isn't healthy. Gum disease and gingivitis are widespread problems but can also be prevented with teeth cleanings with a hygienist every six months and excellent at-home oral hygiene.
Our skilled hygienists gently remove the plaque and hardened plaque called tartar from your teeth during these appointments. If they detect gum disease, they will talk to you about their findings and work with you to create a treatment plan to restore your gum health.
Book Your Next Dental Cleaning in Albuquerque, NM
With diligent oral hygiene on your part and preventive dental checkups and cleanings, Dr. Woods and his team can help you maintain healthy teeth and gums for a lifetime.
Please call us to schedule your next preventive appointment at Blue Sky Dental.
We are happy that we have found an honest and reliable dentist
My husband and I made appointments with Dr. Woods and were very pleased with our visits. All of the staff were friendly and professional. The hygienists both did an excellent job of cleaning our teeth. The dentist gave us a very thorough and unhurried exam, explaining everything he found, and offering suggestions to correct our issues without any high pressure. We are happy that we have found an honest and reliable dentist that we can continue to go back to.
- Jerry H.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our dentist likes to use your first visit to our Albuquerque dental office to spend some time getting to know each other. It’s crucial to us that you feel you can trust us to be honest and transparent with all our interactions, and it starts with your first visit to Blue Sky Dental.
What to Expect during Your First Dental Exam
The purpose of your first exam is for us to learn about your dental needs and how we can help you. You will typically receive a full mouth series of x-rays, a panoramic x-ray, select intra-oral photos, and a full comprehensive exam with our dentist.
Throughout this process, we encourage you to ask questions. We want you to feel fully informed about your dental needs, and your questions also help us determine what your oral health priorities are.
Complimentary 3-D Digital Dental Scan
Each new patient examination also includes a complimentary digital scan, which produces a 3-D digital model of your teeth. This digital model not only allows enhanced visualization and education but can also detect changes in tooth wear and gum recession over time.
A Teeth Cleaning with Our Hygienist
In many cases, we will also provide a teeth cleaning with one of our skilled dental hygienists. The exception would be if we find that you have gum disease; in this case, we would schedule a separate in-depth dental cleaning so that we have sufficient time to treat you properly.
Your Personalized Dental Treatment Plan
At the end of your appointment, Dr. Woods will discuss his findings with you and explain any potential areas of concern. You and he will work together to discuss the needed treatment and develop a plan for your future dental care.
If your first visit is a dental emergency, our dentist in Albuquerque will focus on your immediate concern. We will then schedule an appointment for a later date when we have plenty of time to devote to you and conduct a thorough examination.
Schedule Your First Dental Exam with Us
Dr. Woods and his team would love to welcome you to Blue Sky Dental and welcome you to our extended family. Please call our Albuquerque dental office to schedule an appointment to get started.
The Veterans Administration provides care to Veterans through community providers when the VA cannot provide the treatment needed. The VA Community Care Network (CCN) links the VA to dental providers in the community to ensure that Veterans have access to high-quality, timely oral health care.
A VA Community Care Provider in Albuquerque, NM
Currently, local VA clinics are understaffed and have limited operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has placed a severe strain on VA dental providers, leading to lengthy delays for veterans to obtain needed dental care in a timely fashion. And in many cases, prompt dental treatment for veterans spares them unnecessary discomfort and can mean the difference between saving and losing a tooth.
At Blue Sky Dental, Dr. Corey Woods is committed to ensuring that our veterans receive proper oral health care and has partnered with the VA through the Community Care Network. This allows veterans in Albuquerque, Placitas, Tijeras, Rio Ranchero and surrounding areas to receive timely dental exams, teeth cleanings, tooth fillings, and other needed treatment needed to maintain a healthy smile.
If you have a family member or know someone who is eligible for VA dental benefits, please call our Blue Sky Dental at (505) 275-2492 for more information.
Preventive dentistry, including dental exams and teeth cleanings at our Albuquerque dental office every six months, is the best way to avoid cavities and gum disease that threaten your oral health. Many dental conditions can be detected by your dentist or hygienist before becoming uncomfortable and a bigger, more costly problem to fix.
Preventive Dentistry Protects Your Oral Health
Unfortunately, many people only go to the dentist when they have a toothache. They may feel they can avoid unnecessary costs or discomfort, but the best way to avoid dental pain and costly dental treatment is regular preventive care.
Gum disease, for example, is often painless when it starts, and the symptoms can be so mild that it can go unnoticed. Without prompt treatment, gum disease or gingivitis can lead to periodontitis, the advanced form of gum disease.
At this stage, if we don’t treat periodontitis promptly, you are at increased risk for tooth loss. Several systemic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and certain kinds of cancer, have all been linked to periodontal disease.
During your routine six-month dental exams, our dentist in Albuquerque can detect a small painless cavity and treat it promptly with a tooth filling. Finding the cavity and treating it when it’s small can help prevent the need for a crown, root canal, or extraction that might be necessary if you delayed treatment.
Schedule Your Next Dental Exam and Cleaning
The perfect time to visit the dentist for preventive exams and cleanings is when your teeth feel fine and aren’t experiencing toothaches or gum disease symptoms. Preventing dental problems from developing is always better than letting them take hold.
If you are due for your next six-month exam and teeth cleaning, please call Blue Sky Dental in Albuquerque to schedule an appointment.
Periodontal or gum disease is an infection of the gums and is a serious condition that must be treated by a skilled dental hygienist. At our Albuquerque dental office, we provide customized teeth cleanings to help you avoid gum disease and to treat it if it develops.
How Does Gum Disease Develop?
After you brush, a layer of proteins from saliva and oral bacteria form on your tooth surfaces. As more bacteria attach, a natural biofilm forms. If you remove the biofilm with proper brushing and flossing, it remains a colony of mostly harmless and even beneficial bacteria.
If you don’t brush at least twice a day, the film thickens and turns to plaque that becomes a home for harmful cavity-causing bacteria that stimulates an inflammatory response. Gums pull away from the teeth, and without early treatment, the disease progresses to periodontitis, which can cause irreversible damage to tissue and the bones that hold your teeth in place.
Eventually, teeth can loosen, and the only solution is to remove them. Over 70 percent of tooth loss is due to periodontal disease.
Why Is Gum Disease So Dangerous?
Research continues to show an association between periodontal disease and a range of other health issues. Most well-known are diabetes and heart disease, but more recent research has linked gum disease to certain forms of cancer, respiratory disease, even Alzheimer’s and pregnancy complications.
How Do You Treat Gum Disease?
Mild gum disease is called gingivitis and is reversible if treated promptly. Our hygienists will perform a thorough professional teeth cleaning and offer tips for improving your brushing and flossing skills. This step, along with conscientious at-home oral hygiene, are typically enough to eliminate gingivitis.
Advanced gum disease is treated with scaling and root planing (SRP), also referred to as deep cleaning. This treatment removes calculus and bacteria from below the gum line. This is followed by periodontal maintenance, usually at three-month intervals, to prevent bacteria from returning.
Schedule Your Next Teeth Cleaning in Albuquerque, NM
Periodontal disease often has very mild symptoms, which can lead to it being ignored. If you’re overdue for a teeth cleaning, call Blue Sky Dental to schedule an appointment.
Meet Our Doctor:
Dr. Audra Martinez DDS, AEGD
Dr. Martinez completed her dental training at the University of Missouri,
Kansas City, in 2016, followed by a one year Advanced Education in
General Dentistry (AEGD) residency at the University of New Mexico. She
has practiced in a variety of settings in Albuquerque since 2017 and has
completed many hours of continuing education, including education in
implants and Invisalign, and training with the prestigious Pankey
Institute. She has a particular interest in Special Needs Dentistry, and is
an active member of the NMDA, ADA, AGD, and ADDS. Dr. Martinez is
Dental Exams & Cleanings Technology
Digital X-Rays
Dental x-rays are an integral part of your dental care. They enable our dentist to see problems like cavities inside and between teeth that he can’t see with a visual examination. Digital x-rays are also safer because they reduce your radiation exposure by about 80 percent compared to film x-rays used in the past.
We also use digital x-rays as an educational tool because we can share the highly detailed images with you on your chairside monitor. Dr. Woods can point out a problem like a cavity, and you can see clearly what it is and why we recommend treatment.
Digital x-rays are safer for the environment because we don’t have to dispose of any hazardous chemicals. They are also easily accessible in your patient record to refer to as needed or to share with your insurance company or with specialists.