Dental Hygienist

Even the most diligent brushing leaves areas that build up plaque and tartar over time. A professional hygiene visit at our Wimpole Street practice removes these deposits, polishes away surface staining and leaves your mouth feeling genuinely clean. Plaque is a soft film of bacteria that forms constantly on teeth; where it is not fully removed, it hardens into tartar (calculus), which cannot be brushed away at home and which irritates the gums if left in place.

Hygiene care is for everyone, but some people benefit particularly: patients with bleeding or receding gums, smokers and former smokers, people with diabetes, anyone wearing braces or aligners, patients with implants, crowns or bridges, and those whose tea, coffee or red wine habit is showing on their smile. If you have been told you have gingivitis or early gum disease, regular professional cleaning combined with a good home routine can help bring it under control.

Your 30-minute appointment is carried out by a GDC-registered hygienist. It begins with a look at your gum health — noting any bleeding, pocketing or recession — and a conversation about your current routine. Your hygienist then removes tartar deposits above and below the gumline using a combination of gentle ultrasonic instruments, which vibrate deposits away with a cooling water spray, and fine hand instruments for precision work.

For surface staining, we offer Airflow polishing: a controlled jet of air, warm water and fine powder that lifts stains from tea, coffee, red wine and smoking, including from the awkward spots between teeth and around orthodontic attachments. Many patients find Airflow more comfortable than traditional rubber-cup polishing, and it is particularly effective around implants and bonded restorations, where gentler cleaning matters.

Beyond the clean itself, your hygienist maps your gum health, identifies the areas you are missing at home, and gives you a simple, personalised routine to protect your teeth between visits. That usually means tailored advice on brushing technique, the right interdental brushes or floss for your gaps, and honest guidance on diet, smoking and anything else affecting your gum health. The aim is that each visit leaves you a little better equipped than the last.

Regular hygiene care is one of the most effective ways to help reduce your risk of gum disease — a leading cause of adult tooth loss in the UK. Gum disease typically progresses quietly: bleeding when brushing is often the first sign, and by the time teeth feel loose, significant support has usually been lost. Professional cleaning disrupts the bacteria that drive the process, while your home routine keeps it disrupted between visits. Growing research also links gum health to general health, including diabetes control and cardiovascular health.

A standard hygiene visit is £89, with a new-patient offer of £49, and hygiene with Airflow stain removal is £142. Prices are confirmed when you book, and if your hygienist finds signs of more established gum disease needing structured periodontal therapy, that is explained and quoted separately — your written, itemised quote is confirmed before treatment begins. The overall cost of your care depends mainly on how much build-up is present and how frequently you attend.

Patients sometimes ask whether an electric toothbrush or a whitening toothpaste can do the same job. They cannot: once plaque has mineralised into tartar, only professional instruments can remove it safely, and abrasive pastes risk wearing enamel without shifting set deposits. Equally, Airflow polishing brightens your natural shade by removing surface stains, but it does not change the underlying colour of the teeth — that requires dentist-prescribed whitening, which we are happy to discuss.

After your appointment, your teeth typically feel noticeably smoother — that is the surface plaque bacteria find harder to recolonise. Mild sensitivity for a day or two is normal, especially if there was significant tartar near the gumline, and usually settles quickly. To keep staining at bay, it can help to avoid heavily pigmented food and drink for the rest of the day. Most adults benefit from hygiene visits every three to six months; your hygienist will recommend the interval that suits you, though individual results vary.

If you are looking for a dental hygienist in London, our practice in Marylebone, near Harley Street, combines experienced GDC-registered hygienists with modern equipment, including Airflow technology, and genuinely personal care. Appointments are easy to fit around a working day in central London, with times that suit early starts and lunch breaks, and you do not need to be an existing patient of the practice to book.

Aftercare between visits is where the real progress happens. Your hygienist will show you, in your own mouth, exactly where plaque is being missed and which interdental brush sizes fit your particular gaps — a small detail that makes a large difference, because the spaces between teeth are where most gum problems begin. Many patients find that once their technique is dialled in, bleeding settles within a couple of weeks and each subsequent visit takes less time. If you use an electric toothbrush, bring it along or tell us the model, and we can advise on the most effective way to use it.

If your hygienist finds deeper pocketing or established periodontitis, a standard scale and polish alone may not be enough. In that case we explain the findings clearly, and structured periodontal therapy — deeper cleaning of the root surfaces over one or more longer visits, sometimes with local anaesthetic for comfort — may be recommended. This is always discussed and quoted separately in writing before anything goes ahead, and progress is measured at review appointments so you can see whether the pockets are responding. Nothing is booked without your agreement.

Reaching us is easy from across London: our Wimpole Street practice is a short walk from Bond Street and Oxford Circus stations, with Regent's Park also nearby, so a 30-minute hygiene visit fits comfortably into a lunch break or on the way home. Patients who work in the West End often book a standing appointment every three or six months — the interval their hygienist recommends — so their gum care simply happens without having to think about it. Our reception team can set up reminders so you never drift overdue.