How often should you go to your dentist for teeth scaling? What is this dental procedure used for? How much does Teeth Scaling cost? Discover 8 things to know about teeth scaling.
Teeth Scaling can be done by a dentist or periodontist
Teeth Scaling is a dental procedure performed by a dentist or periodontist. The dentist can, in fact, after diagnosis of periodontal disease, send his patient to a periodontist, who can take care of the pathology, starting in particular with appropriate scaling. The management of dental loosening, for example, will be proposed by a periodontist, who will treat the loosening and then adapt the frequency of scaling.
Teeth scaling is used to remove tartar… But not only!
Scaling consists of removing the tartar stuck on the root (part of the tooth initially under the gum) and the crown (the part of the tooth that we see). This act makes it possible to proceed with the elimination of the bacterial biofilm (dental plaque) which, over time and the saliva, has become calcified.
The objective of scaling is to control the absence of inflation of the gums, which is at the origin of the problems of dental loosening. But what controls the absence of gingival inflammation is the quality of daily tooth brushing by the patient.
The quality of the brushing is also, if not more important than the descaling
Scaling does not guarantee good dental hygiene, but it allows the brushing done by the patient on a daily basis to be effective. It is with dental brushing, made possible by regular scaling, that we treat the gums.
Everything is actually at the level of the brushing of the teeth: scaling is only a means of making this brushing effective and of preventing chronic inflammation from appearing and activating the slow but progressive degradations in the mouth.
Hence the importance of combining daily tooth brushing and regular teeth scaling with interdental cleaning, which is also daily.
For maximum efficiency, interdental brushes are ideal to prevent the loosening of the teeth. Dental floss is another possibility.
Several techniques are used to descale
- The oldest technique is the manual scaling technique, which consists of using a curette to scrape the root.
- The most common type of teeth scaling is scaling with ultrasound. The modification of the tips that we use today allows an effective scaling under the gum, without creating uncomfortable pain.
- There is also the laser, which will succeed in destroying tartar and bacteria on the surface of the root, like ultrasound, but which is especially effective on shallow scaling (in the event of moderate or severe tartar, ultrasound remains more effective and less expensive).
Frequency varies from patient to patient depending on the need
From adolescence, it is important to make regular appointments with your dentist for scaling.
The frequency will depend on the patient, the quality of his brushing, and intrinsic and environmental factors: the objective is that the patient does not have diseased gums, so several factors must be taken into account before determining a frequency.
For example, some patients will need 2 to 3 teeth scalings per year, while others will only need one annual descaling.
But in general, Teeth scaling and polishing should be done at least once a year.
Particularities in the case of crowns or dental implants
People who have dental crowns or implants in their mouths need to maintain them even more regularly.
For scaling around an implant, the dentist will not use conventional ultrasound and will use subgingival air polishing (a kind of mini Karcher), which allows the implant not to be touched directly with an instrument, so as not to scratch the surface of the implant, which would increase the risk of bacteria attaching.
Teeth Scaling Price in Pakistan at a dentist is fixed
Scaling is a medical act reimbursed by Social Security, the price of which is 150000k. On the other hand, when the patient is taken care of in a periodontics office, the prices are variable, because the periodontist is free to determine his prices.
No contraindication, only precautions to take
At any age, regular scaling is recommended, and should always be combined with good tooth brushing (an electric toothbrush is highly recommended for older people who can no longer brush their teeth effectively).
Patients at high cardiac risk must be put on antibiotic prophylaxis (preventive antibiotic therapy) because teeth scaling induces significant bacteremia.
In pregnant women, contrary to certain received ideas, there is no contraindication, quite the contrary! Teeth Scaling is strongly recommended, due to hormonal changes in pregnant women which tend to make the gums more easily ill.
