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All you need to know about Scaling & Polishing

Dr Ng Shiau Way BDS(Malaya)
Aug 13, 2015
3 min read

Dental Scaling and Cleaning

Dental scaling, cleaning, also known as prophylaxisis is the safe removal of plaque and calculus from the teeth and below the gums. When plaque is allowed to remain of the surfaces of the teeth and gum line, it can cause irritation, swelling, and gingivitis. Scaling effectively removes plaque, bacteria and debris from the areas that your toothbrush and floss aren't capable of reaching. Dental scaling is an important part in maintainance of our gum health.

Why is Dental Scaling Important?

Plaque is a naturally occurring substance that consist of bacteria and it's sticky structures on the surfaces of the teeth. When plaque combines with natural minerals from our saliva, it hardens to form calculus,or tartar. Once formed, plaque and tartar irritate the gums causing them to become inflamed, irritated, and infected with gingivitis.

If left untreated, the gingivitis will become periodontitis. The tartar will spread further down below the gum line causing the gums to recede, and damage the supporting bone structure. This will cause the tooth to loosen and may ultimately result in tooth loss. So you see, oral hygiene is not simply what appears on the surface of a smile. You must take equal care of your gums, protecting them from plaque and bacteria just as you would your teeth in order to maintain a healthy radiant smile.

Generally most people think that as we grow old, our teeth will grow loose due to aging. What we do not know is: "If we do effective gum maintainance and prevention of gums disease, our teeth and gums will remain healthy and firm even as we age"

The Scaling Process

Your scaling process will begin as the dentist checks the gingival pockets (space between the teeth and gums) around the teeth by probing to better understand the state of your gums.

Next, your teeth will be checked for the formation of tartar, the hardened plaque which can range in color from yellow to black. Tartar can be detected underneath the gum line safely by your dentist by using the same probing method used in the first step.

Scaling is the process of removing the palque and tartar from both above and below the gum line. The harmful substances are removed without damage to the tooth or gums using a machine called Ultrasonic scaler. The machine works by vibrating at super fast speed, not by grinding. Tartar, which is formed on smooth surface of our teeth, will dislodged by the supersonic vibration. Contrary to general believe, scalling do not thin down our tooth as there are no grinding involved. Lastly, the teeth will be finished with a polish which will make it more difficult for plaque to adhere to the teeth.

At Home After Care:

It is important to keep in mind that although dental cleanings are a crucial part of maintaining your oral health, they are only part. In order to protect your teeth and gums against future decay and infection, you will need to follow up at home with a proper oral hygiene plan recommended by your Dentist. If your gums have shown signs of inflammation, a good dental cleaning will definitely help and may even reverse the effect of gingivitis if you are consistent with brushing, flossing and rinsing in between your visits to your dentistl. Ask your Dentist how your can best take care of your teeth and gums at home to prevent the formation of plaque and calculus.