Receiving a professional dental cleaning from a dentist or dental hygienist is important for your oral health. Most dental cleanings take only between 25-30 minutes. Cleanings should be performed every six months to prevent excessive plaque buildup. Plaque left untreated can lead to unhealthy gums and tooth decay. A routine dental cleaning should incude scaling, root planning, and polishing.

 

Scaling is the process of removing plaque and tartar from all tooth surfaces in a variety of methods, depending on the amount of plaque and tartar.

 

Dental hygienists traditionally perform scaling by hand. However, new and advanced technology has lead to more modern methods such as electric scalers. This sophistocated tool allows dental cleanings to be performed more efficiently and in less time. To achieve the best results, both electric and manual scaling methods are combined for dental cleaning.