What is Dental scaling & Why Dental scaling is Important
Dental scaling is a procedure which involves cleaning of debris that has accumulated on the surface of teeth and between the gums and teeth over time. This debris consists of plaque (thin layer of debris including bacteria) and calculus (calcified plaque). The usual signs of gum diseases include bleeding gums, dull gum with pain, food impaction and teeth that move within the gum. It is advised that you get teeth clean up done every six months.
Generally scaling is performed without the need of any anesthetic when the debris is superficial and does not involve deep gum tissue. Most children and adults find scaling to be pain free.
At CDDC Islamabad, all dentists apply gel form anesthesia before proceeding with ultrasonic scaling and polishing. In case further pain management is needed, we can always inject local anesthesia to numb the area out if the scaling is excessively deep. The duration of the cleanup depends on the depth and extent of your gum disease. We provide ultrasonic scaling services in Islamabad. The average time it takes for a superficial cleanup is usually 30 minutes.
Brushing your teeth twice a day and getting a scaling and polishing every 6 months is all it takes to keep your teeth healthy unless you have a condition in your mouth which you have no control over such as crowding of teeth, which makes routine home care difficult. You might be brushing your teeth twice a day, but full efficiency cannot be achieved. Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss in most cases it is preventable. Contrary to popular belief, cleaning does not weaken your teeth and patients of any age can and must go through this procedure safely.
Every day, as dentists, we get to hear this question a lot in our practice. More times than what you’d want to believe. Well, the short answer is, No.
Tooth enamel (outer most laver of the tooth) is the hardest tissue in your body. And anybody who has had dental work done (filling, root canals etc) would tell you that the dentist uses drills to cut into the tooth. These drills operate at thousands of RPMs and are made up of very tough metals. A scaler tip (instrument used for deep cleaning) is not a drill. It doesn’t rotate. It merely vibrates.
Furthermore, the overall “feel” you get of “sharp spaces” behind your teeth after a deep clean, is just that… your teeth. The calculus (fancy word for debris) covered them for so long, that you didn’t even get to feel them. The longer the debris stays in your mouth, the harder and smoother feeling it becomes as it calcifies and makes its stronghold. So that slippery feel you get before the scaling, is you running your tongue over bad debris that has gathered over there for so long. Lifetimes for a lot of people who never made the informed decision to get a deep cleaning done.