What is scaling and polishing?
Scaling and polishing clean your teeth thoroughly. Scaling removes the hard tartar which forms on your teeth. You can’t remove it just by brushing your teeth. Scaling also removes the trapped food and plaque containing millions of germs, which can cause tooth decay and gum disease. Stains from coffee, tea, cigarettes, or red wine are also cleaned away when your dentist polishes your teeth.
What happens in scaling and polishing?
Scaling & Polishing Hand scalers – These come in different sizes and shapes, to reach different parts 0f your teeth. This is why you will see the dentist changing instruments quite often.
Scaling & Polishing Electric scalers
These use very fast vibrational instruments with water. The water is sucked out of your mouth with the help of a suction. A hand scaler is used to check whether the teeth are completely clean.
For polishing, your dentist will use a rotating brush or rubber polisher with polishing paste.
Scaling cleans above and below the gums. If you have gum disease, scaling needs to be deeper, around the roots of the teeth. This is called ‘root planing. Your dentist may give you a local anesthetic to make it more comfortable.
What are the benefits?
Regular scaling and polishing by a dentist help keep your teeth and gums healthy by making it easier for you to keep your teeth clean at home. You should see and feel the difference
If your gums bleed when you brush, you may have early gum disease. Regular scaling helps to stop the disease from getting worse.
Gum disease can cause bad breath, which you can prevent by regular scaling and cleaning your teeth thoroughly at home.
