How Often Should You Get Teeth Scaling Done?

Teeth scaling is the most beneficial thing you can do for your oral health and to minimize dentist visits. Most persons brush twice or thrice a day.

However, since brushing is such a mechanical routine that few people actually stop and understand the proper way of doing it.

Adopt the right brushing techniques. Spend a minimum of two minutes for effective cleaning.

You can even ask your dentist at Kirkland Premier Dentistry for a short demonstration of the correct mechanism.

Indications for Scaling

Those who are careless about oral hygiene and brushing are commonly more prone to plaque and other periodontal problems.

Others, in spite of self-care, cleaning, and flossing, still do need professional dental care too.

Bleeding gums, bad breath, sensitivity, and color stains are some of the indicators that scaling is required.

If you have got a high amount of plaque or tartar deposits around your teeth, you may require multiple sittings- two to four times a year.

Plaque deposits are generally caused due to a poor oral care routine, diet, tobacco, sugar, coffee, and tea intake.

To prevent periodontal diseases and tooth decay, it is very important to have your teeth cleaned professionally.

When your dental surgeon scales, he removes deposits that cause cavities & gum regression.

Frequency of Tooth Scaling

Regular plaque and calculus removal are essential for healthy gums and bone around the dental structures. The frequency of professional cleaning depends on the health of your teeth and gums.

Generally, it depends on how rapidly deposits occur in your mouth. For some patients, deposits develop relatively quickly (as early as three/four months).

In case you are a smoker or have a tendency to get gum infections you should call upon your dentist more often.

Also, some patients have chronic inflammation and loose teeth in some areas.

Even when scaling is not required, at least a regular check-up once in 6 months is of primary importance. There are other procedures that may be required to save other kinds of damage.

But if your teeth have extra thin & weak enamel, eroded surfaces, or fluorosis crowns with pits, then overzealous scaling may enlarge the surface defects.

In that case, your dentist can advise you about doing it less often, maintain the best possible oral hygiene on your own and come for periodic checkups so that plaque build-up can be curbed.

It’s a good idea to actually ask your dentist how frequently you should visit his clinic. Typically, most healthy patients require professional cleaning once in 6 months.

Advantages of Scaling

Tooth scaling can help prevent oral cancer. A study conducted by The Oral Cancer Foundation found that there is one death caused by oral cancer every hour, every day, in the United States.

When you are regularly visiting, your dentist, you are also being screened for oral cancer, which is highly curable if diagnosed at the initial stages.

The same goes for gum disease. Diagnosed early, gum disease can be doctored and reversed.

Gum disease is an infection in the gum tissues and bone that keep your teeth in place and is one of the major reasons for adult tooth loss.

If timely treatment is not obtained, a more severe and advanced phase of gum disease follows. Regular scaling, root planing, and dental selection flossing and brushing twice daily are the fundamental factors in preventing gingivitis.

Another crucial advantage of During tooth scaling is the removal of most tobacco, coffee, and tea stains.

Your dental hygienist will also polish your teeth to a beautiful shine. The result is a whiter and brighter smile!

After Care

Contrary to belief, in expert hands scaling and polishing is not detrimental to the enamel.

On healthy teeth with intact enamel, professional & expert cleaning doesn't do any damage.

Teeth scaling is a safe procedure if done with a time gap of four or five months.

Make sure your dental hygienist is an experienced one.

After cleaning and root planing is completed, you may feel minor discomfort in the oral cavity for a few days and enhanced sensitivity to hot and cold or sometimes sweets too.

This is a normal procedure of healing

For sensitivity, the dentist would prescribe the temporary use of a specialized toothpaste application and a fluoride mouth rinse. Fluoride strengthens the enamel.

Take Away

Healthy kids and adults should have their teeth cleaned via scaling at least twice each year. Periodontal problems can cause tooth decay and gum infection.

Visit your nearest dentist for regular checkups and undergo in-house tooth cleaning procedures to protect bones, remove tartar, stains, and uneven surfaces.

Keep smiling!

Content originally published at Kirkland Premier Dentistry