Dental Polishing, Tell Me the Nitty Gritty! What Does it Do?
Ahhhhhh, the flavored gravel that you get at the end of your cleaning…
Let’s just walk through a typical dental cleaning in order to understand what that stuff does.
1. The first thing your dental hygienist should do, is take a quick look around your mouth.
This will give them a better idea of where possible decay may be brewing. They notice what your gum health looks like. They look for any broken or missing fillings, cracks, how much tartar has built up, etc.
Side note: True cracks are pretty hard to find, however,
with just a visual look at your teeth.
Some offices will try to scare you with their fancy intra-oral cameras. These cameras can easily make you think that you have a crack on every single tooth in your mouth, when in fact, many are just normal structure lines. True cracks are found by following symptoms more-so.
Be sure that you are going to an honest dentist that is always truthful. Remember, “don’t fix it if it isn’t broken!” Your honest dentist will be able to tell you if you have a true crack that should be dealt with.
2. The hygienist then checks your pocket depths with their probing instrument about this time as well.
Pocket depths (Probing measurements) measure the distance from the edge of your gum line to the bone level at the base of the pocket underneath. This procedure assesses your mouth for periodontal disease and bone loss.
Once the hygienist is familiar with your mouth, it is appropriate for them to do this step more quickly at your follow-up cleaning appointments. A good hygienist can feel any worrisome pocket depths as they are cleaning your teeth as well. If their instrument falls deep under your gums, they will know it.
If your hygienist doesn’t check your pocket depths in this way, don’t be too worried. It’s probably a good sign that your tissue looks healthy and your bone level looks good on your x-rays. It never hurts to ask them to be sure, though.
The probing process can be a little bit pokey, so you’ll actually be thanking them for skipping that part sometimes.
3. Next, the hygienist will scale, aka “scrape,” your teeth with their metal instruments to remove any tartar and SOME of the plaque.
Be sure to read the SODA that we spilled for you on the difference between plaque and tartar. They are two different things, and it’s intriguing!
4. HERE COMES YOUR ANSWER !!!
After scaling is through, the hygienist then POLISHES your teeth with an abrasive paste.
This polishing step removes the REST of the plaque, just like your toothbrush does after flossing.
I call this polish the “mint-flavored gravel” because it really does feel like sand is being rubbed all over your teeth. It is sooooo worth the smooth feeling that you feel at the end!
The polishing also helps to remove any surface stain that has accumulated on your teeth from coffee, tea, tobacco, red wine, etc. Essentially, any dark-colored substance that enters your mouth can cause stain, and the dental polish is there to help.
The polish isn’t perfect at removing every inch of stain, however, especially if it has reached deep into the grooves and crevices of your teeth. This is where bleaching your teeth can help.
(We’ve spilled SODA for you on the best ways to whiten your teeth, if you feel you need that additional step. Feel Free to Check out our Product Advice section too, to find our recommended bleaching products)
The polishing leaves you with that squeaky clean finish on your teeth, which you can now go home and try to keep up!
5. At the very end, the hygienist flosses your teeth, to try and remove the rest of that polish and final debris.
At home, though, the best method would be to floss first, then brush. We confuse people with this a bit.
In the end, we are just happy if you floss at all! So just floss whenever you can.
How can you keep your mouth feeling like this?
Brush 2x a day (Or at least at night! NEVER skip at night! )
Electric Toothbrushes really give you that smooth, polished feeling, and we highly recommend them.
Rinse with the appropriate mouthwash for your genetic tendency (SODA article available)
And try to eat healthy.
If you try your best to do these things, you’ll have very minimal tartar buildup for your hygienist to scale off at your next dental cleaning. You will have little to no gum disease or bleeding. You’ll have a very happy hygienist/patient experience.
You’ll be on the road to keeping those teeth until you’re 100 years old, just as you should! :)
Polish isn’t a miracle substance.
You can read article after article, study after study, talking about whether polishing helps prevent gum disease, tooth decay, etc.
We can cut to the chase…
The polishing we do for you at your dental cleaning, which happens only 2-4 days out of the year, won’t make any miracles happen.
YOU are the one who sees yourself 365 days a year. Your flossing and brushing are what will prevent the tooth decay gum disease, and periodontal disease.
You just need to floss, brush, and then rinse with your appropriate mouthwash. Being consistent with your dental cleanings every 6 months will clean up whatever you miss.
Dental hygienists exist as the final piece of the puzzle, because none of us are perfect. We will never remove EVERY SINGLE bit of bacteria on our own at home.
Tartar will still form, and cavities can/will still happen.
So be sure to have your teeth cleaned and checked regularly for problems before any get too large.
We have to remind ourselves, that we are our own first defense. It’s up to us, not anyone else.
If you maintain this easy process throughout your life, dental problems will be few and far between.
The best dental insurance is your flossing and brushing.
Can I have my teeth polished more often or take some home?
We’re very sorry to report that this isn’t such a good idea.
The abrasives in the dental polish are meant for your dental cleanings only. When limited to 2-4 times per year, there is little to no risk of causing enamel erosion or harm. Dental professionals know when and where to limit polish according to patients’ gum recession and erosion etc.
At home, though, peopler don’t quite realize the danger. We want to make our teeth as white as possible, so “the more, the better” most often becomes the approach. This is not good for your teeth.
Enamel can get “brushed away” when it is met with too hard of a toothbrush, too aggressive brushing, too much professional polishing, or even toothpaste that is too abrasive.
(Feel free to browse around our SODA to learn more about preventing recession and abrasion )
Though it would be best if we did, we’ll never claim to know it all, all of the time. NO ONE knows it all! We do claim honesty, though, and we sincerely want to help as many people as we can! Our patients have maintained beautifully, following our conservative recommendations :)
So, thanks so much for reading and letting us spill our SODA! Remember to take the time to find your HONEST DENTIST, and be sure to browse around our links and follow us on social media for answers to more of your exciting dental questions, like:
