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Teeth cleaning and scaling is essential for the overall health of your gums and teeth. It allows the removal of hardened calculus and tartar build up around your teeth.

When excessive plaque, calculus and tartar is allowed to build up around the teeth, dental cleaning or ‘scaling’ is required. This process involves removing all the plaque, calculus and tartar from between and around the teeth.

Scaling is done using an Ultra-sonic scaler. This is small hand-held device with a blunt metal tip that vibrates. When this scaler tip is placed on the hard calculus and tartar, it vibrates at very high speeds and displaces the calculus and tartar from where they were accumulated. Also, it gives off a cooling spray of water to allow temperature control and to prevent any discomfort caused by the scaler tip’s vibrations.

Scaling is not harmful to the teeth as it only removes the calculus and tartar built up on top of the teeth, not the tooth structure. Also, the scaler tip is not strong or sharp enough to cut into the tooth’s enamel.

After the scaling and gross removal of the buildup is completed, the teeth are further treated with finer hand tools to smoothen the root surfaces beneath the gum line. Once this is done, the teeth are polished with a slow-speed handpiece which spins at one end that has a rubber ‘prophy’ cup attached to it. The rubber cup is filled with prophy-paste, which is made of small granules within the paste. These granules are applied to the treated tooth surfaces with the rubber cup and spun around, polishing the teeth surfaces and making them completely smooth and shiny.

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