Is scaling good or bad? The dentist tells you the truth

Last time Zhimei sent an article on the treatment of gingival scraping, many people left messages about the problem of scaling teeth:

"My teeth are fine, I brush my teeth every day, do I still have to wash my teeth?"

"Doesn't scaling your teeth hurt your teeth and make them sour?"

"After washing my teeth, the gap between my teeth became bigger, and I regretted dying!"

What are the benefits of scaling teeth? Does scaling your teeth hurt your teeth?

Today, Zhimei will come to talk about it.

01

What exactly does scaling do?

Teeth washing, washing is the bacterial "umbrella".

We have a lot of bacteria in our mouths.

Image source: Tencent Medical Code

They are mixed with food scraps, shedding oral epithelial cells, etc., sticking to the surface of the teeth and accumulating layer by layer, forming a dense, complex membrane structure[1] - dental plaque, like a stone at the bottom of a stream with a gelatinous, mucous membrane.

Plaque is invisible, but harmful, and they can unite different bacteria to form a "small society" that can destroy more efficiently [1,2].

If left unchecked, plaque and the mineral salts in saliva "join forces" to form hard calculus.

Dental calculus accumulates more bacteria, protecting them and making them harder to remove.

Bacteria that stay inside continue to secrete acids and toxins, deminerate the teeth, and irritate the gums, causing inflammation, redness, and bleeding in the gums [3-5].

They are also ambitious and can progress deeper, harming the tissues around the teeth and increasing the risk of periodontitis [5].

Over time, the gums and teeth will be separated, and the "foundation" of the teeth will also undergo bone resorption and defects, and the teeth will gradually loosen after losing support, and eventually fall out [6].

Once formed, the calculus is very strong, and the brushing cannot be brushed off [7], which can only be removed by the doctor through periodontal instruments to slow down the rate of deposition of the calculus.

Moreover, scaling teeth also has the advantage of being able to detect tooth decay or other oral diseases early, treat them early, suffer less, and avoid small problems dragging into big problems.

02

How exactly do you wash your teeth and will it hurt your teeth?

Usually what we call "scaling teeth" is the cleaning of the gingival treatment, which is mainly for the visible parts of the gums.

The most common is ultrasonic cleaning, in short, to make the cleaner produce high-frequency vibration, shake the calculus down, and spray water to rinse.

If the calculus is large, the doctor may manually scrape it off with the instrument.

Image credit: 123RF

Finally, it will be polished according to the situation, taking sandblasting and polishing as an example, it is through the sandblasting machine to mix fine sand powder with high-pressure gas water and spray it together to the tooth surface.

This removes pigment from small calculus, narrow crevices, and flattens the surface of the tooth, making it less prone to pigment and plaque deposition [8].

After watching the tooth washing process, the small partners will more or less worry about "washing teeth and hurting teeth".

Here, Zhimei also gives you a few problems that most often bother everyone:

01, scaling teeth will wash the teeth acid?

If you have not washed your teeth for many years, after washing your teeth, your teeth are indeed easy to become sour and sensitive, but this is temporary.

Dental calculus likes to wrap their teeth, isolate them from the outside world, and bully them themselves, so that the teeth are more numb to external stimuli.

After the calculus is removed, the tooth is re-exposed to the long-lost outside world.

At this time, in the face of hot and cold sweet and sour stimuli, such as the cold air stimulation of the saliva sucker (for sucking saliva during oral treatment), the cold water stimulation of the ultrasonic cleaning machine, eating sour food or cold drinks, etc., it will be more sensitive and easy to produce a sour and soft feeling.

However, this sensitivity is temporary, if there is no problem such as gum atrophy, as long as you try to avoid contact with cold, hot, sour and other irritating foods after washing your teeth, use anti-sensitive toothpaste, generally 1-2 weeks will slowly disappear [9].

If you are particularly sensitive to cold stimuli, you can also choose to clean your teeth during the warmer season of summer, or start with anti-sensitive toothpaste a week before cleaning.

02, teeth cleaning bleeding, is the doctor too violent?

Most people do not bleed when they wash their teeth, but people who have not cleaned their teeth for a long time and have severe gingivitis are prone to bleeding when washing their teeth.

This is because people who have not cleaned their teeth for a long time are prone to accumulate a large number of dental calculus, and the degree of inflammation, swelling and softness of the gums is more serious, and even if they are lightly touched, they are easy to bleed.

But don't worry, after scaling your teeth to remove the stones that irritate your gums, the inflammation of your gums will gradually improve.

If you pay attention to maintaining oral hygiene, the gums will gradually return to health, and the next time you wash your teeth, you will not bleed.

03, scaling teeth will make the gap between teeth bigger?

Usually, people who have not washed their teeth for a long time will have a larger gap between their teeth after scaling.

This is because before the teeth are cleansed, a large number of dental calculus is stuffed between the teeth, which gives people the illusion that the gap between the teeth is small, and after the tooth cleaning removes the dental calculus, the seam is exposed, as if the gap between the teeth has become larger.

At the same time, gingivitis is reduced after scaling, and the gums gradually become swollen, which will also make people feel that the gap between the teeth is wider.

In fact, instead of cleaning your teeth regularly to remove dental stones, you are more likely to produce periodontitis, making the gap between your teeth larger and deeper and deeper [6].

04. Will the teeth become looser and washed?

No, if there is loose teeth after scaling, it is not caused by the scaling itself, but because of periodontitis.

As we mentioned earlier, periodontitis continues to invade, causing the gums to shrink and the alveolar bone to resorption, so the teeth loosen.

It's just that before scaling teeth, the calculus is like a chain, temporarily "fixing" the teeth, causing us to feel that the teeth are loose, and after removing the calculus, this "fixation" disappears, so the teeth are loosened.

Don't think that this "fixation" is a good thing, it is like drinking and quenching thirst, it will only make periodontitis more and more serious, less and less bones, looser teeth, and finally fall out.

05. Will scaling your teeth hurt your teeth?

As long as it is in a regular hospital, the doctor will reasonably apply ultrasound and sandblasting cleaning instruments, which will not hurt the teeth.

As mentioned earlier, scaling teeth is to use ultrasound to shock the calculus and will not damage the teeth.

Polishing is evidence-based, not everyone has to do it, even if you want to carry out this step, the doctor will pay attention to do the minimum degree of polishing.

Taking sandblasting polishing as an example, it is generally the use of low-wear fine sandblasting particles, although it will wear a small amount of tooth enamel, but this amount has been controlled very small, generally 3 months can rebuild the outer layer of tooth enamel [9-11].

So don't worry too much, as long as it is not polished frequently, it will not endanger the health of the teeth.

Overall, regular scaling is a cost-effective thing to protect your teeth.

Wash your teeth 1 or 2 times a year, or do you go to the implant after the teeth are broken? Smart you, you must know which option is better.

Reviewer

Jingquan | Chief Physician of department of stomatology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

bibliography

Huang Yinxue, Huo Lijun, Lei Yayan. Advances in Dental Plaque Biofilm Research Models[J/CD] . Chinese Journal of Stomatology(Electronic Edition),2018,12(4): 251-254. DOI: 10.3877/cma.j.issn.1674-1366.2018.04.009

[2] Marsh, P.D. Dental plaque as a biofilm and a microbial community – implications for health and disease. BMC Oral Health 6, S14 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6831-6-S1-S14

[3] Sansone C, Van Houte J, Joshipura K, et al. The association of mutans streptococci and non-mutans streptococci capable of acidogenesis at a low pH with dental caries on enamel and root surfaces[J]. Journal of dental research, 1993, 72(2): 508-516.

[4] Becker M R, Paster B J, Leys E J, et al. Molecular analysis of bacterial species associated with childhood caries[J]. Journal of clinical microbiology, 2002, 40(3): 1001-1009.

[5] Lang N P, Sch tzle M A, L e H. Gingivitis as a risk factor in periodontal disease[J]. Journal of clinical periodontology, 2009, 36: 3-8.

[6] Kinane DF, Stathopoulou PG, Papapanou PN. Periodontal diseases. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017 Jun 22;3:17038. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2017.38. PMID: 28805207.

[7] Steele J, O’Sullivan I. Executive Summary: Adult Dental Health Survey 2009. NHS Digital; 2011.URL: http://content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB01086/adul-dent-heal-surv-summ-them-exec-2009-rep2.pdf (accessed 1 February 2017)

[8] Kontturi N rhi V，Markkanen S，Markkanen H. Effects of airpolishing on dental plaque removal and hard tissues as evaluated by scanning electron microscopy［J］. J Periodontol， 1990，61（6）：334 338. DOI：10.1902/jop.1990.61.6.334.

[9] Pence, Sandra D, MS, RDH; Chambers, Doyle A, DMD; van Tets, Ian G, PhD; Wolf, Randall C, DDS; Pfeiffer, David C, PhD. Journal of Dental Hygiene (Online); Chicago Vol. 85, Iss. 4, (Fall 2011): 348-57.

Gu Linjuan,Xu Yangyao,Zhao Xinyi,Wang Jiaqiong,Li Shibao,Wu Yan. Experimental study on the influence of cleaning and polishing on surface roughness of enamel[J].Journal of Practical Stomatology,2010,26(03):356-359.

Content production

Disclaimer: WuXi AppTec's content team focuses on the global biomedical health research process. This article is for informational purposes only and the views expressed herein do not represent the position of WuXi AppTec, nor do they represent WuXi AppTec's support for or opposition to the views expressed herein. This article is also not recommended for treatment options. For guidance on treatment options, please visit a regular hospital.

Share, like, watch, spread health knowledge