What is it?
Scaling and polishing cleans 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?
Scaling and polishing cleans 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.
- Hand scalers: These come in different sizes and shapes, to reach different parts of your teeth. This is why you will see the dentist changing instruments quite often.
- 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 dentistt may give you a local anaesthetic to make it more comfortable.
What are the benefits?
- Regular scaling and polishing by a dentist helps 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 getting worse.
- Gum disease can cause bad breath, which you can prevent by regular scaling and cleaning your teeth thoroughly at home.