Scaling & Polishing
Scaling and Polishing of teeth to get back your sparkling smile
What is scaling?
Oral health plays a key role for general health irrespective of age. You essentially need healthy teeth to live a convenient life. Regular cleaning and right eating habits can help to keep teeth healthy for lifetime. Scaling is one on the most significant procedures that helps to keep gums and teeth healthy and firm. This procedure basically removes infected deposits like plaque, calculus, stains and other harmful elements from tooth surface. If, you will not remove these filthy elements then stay ready to get suffered with infection and loosening of gums and teeth that eventually causes pyorrhoea and tooth loss. Scaling is a new age process and it is entirely safe. Routine treatment does not damage tooth surface in any way. However, it is very important to consult the trained dentist for optimum results. We suggest patients to get scaling done once every six months.
What is a plaque?
Dental plaque is a soft and colorless film of bacteria, germs and food particles that keeps forming on teeth. These bacteria make colony and multiply rapidly to cause infection and cavities in teeth. Simultaneously gums also get affected, often resulting in tender bleeding gums. If plaque is not cleaned within 10-14 hours then it mineralizes into calculus or tartar. An aspect of calculus is it cannot be removed with brushing if formed once. Therefore, scaling proves essential to get rid of this.
Why is scaling done?
Routine cleaning by dentist is important to remove calculus or tartar that may develop despite careful brushing and flossing. Professional cleaning is mixture of scaling and polishing. Scaling is a simple non-surgical treatment to remove infected deposits like tartar, calculus or other kind of debris from tooth. Careless attitude in this direction might lead to periodontal disease. These diseases deepen pocket between tooth and gum. This provides perfect atmosphere for quick growth of anaerobic bacteria. In addition, bacteria multiply rapidly to infect more of the gum and start dissolving the tooth supporting bone. This situation progressively makes tooth loose. Furthermore, treatment becomes more extensive and complicated in order to save teeth. Gum surgery is required to make surrounding tissues healthy.
What is the procedure?
Scaling is proper cleaning of teeth above and below the gum line in order to remove any plaque, tartar and calculus that have smeared on tooth. This procedure requires special tools to fetch expected results and stay protected against any kind of infection or side effect. Basically, dentists use ultrasonic machine. It carries a fine tip that vibrates at ultrasonic frequency to dislodge tartar and plaque from tooth. These vibrations are extremely fine therefore do not harm tooth or gum in anyway. Dentist might also schedule next appointment for coming 4-6 weeks to check the improvement. Experts recommend going for professional teeth cleaning at least every 6 to 12 months. You essentially need to pay more visits to doctor in case of any kind of dental/oral disorders. Routine checkup is indispensable to maintain oral health for perfect chewing.
How frequently should scaling be done?
Plaque formation is a continuous process and starts mineralizing into tartar within 10-14 hours if not brushed away. These people need periodic scaling at every 6 months. The golden rule to keep teeth and gum healthy is to go for a periodical check at every 6 months. The best advice will come from doctor whether you need scaling or not. He will also instruct on correct home care for healthy teeth. It must be emphasized again that scaling does not weaken them but prevents gum diseases which make gums bleeding and if not checked leading to more critical problems.