Routine dental cleanings play an integral part to proper oral hygiene. Professional cleaning by a hygienist can remove mineralized plaque that may develop even with careful brushing and flossing, particularly in areas that are difficult to reach.
It’s recommended you receive a dental cleaning once every six months.
You can expect your dental cleaning to last between 30 minutes and an hour. A trained hygienist will facilitate the cleaning, and a dentist may examine you at the end. Most individuals find dental cleanings to be painless.
There are two important steps to a dental cleaning. The first step is scaling the teeth, whereby the hygienist will remove the plaque and tartar from the tooth surfaces. This can be performed by hand or with electric scalers depending on the hygienists preference.Typically, the hygienist will also dig into the pockets of the gums to remove any plaque buildup.
The second step is polishing to eliminate any final plaque and buff the teeth. Polishers usually contain several different sized heads to clean those hard to reach places.
