Lost your confidence in public because you believe your smile is no longer up to scratch ? Perhaps you simply need a good dental scaling, which will both give you your smile back and take care of your teeth at the same time.
What is dental scaling?
Scaling is one of a number of oral hygiene procedures that can only be carried out by a dentist. It consists of removing the tartar that ends up becoming encrusted both on and in between the teeth. Even first-rate oral hygiene and regular brushing won’t prevent this deposit building up.
Though the speed at which it occurs depends on a large number of factors, tartar formation on teeth is essentially unavoidable. As unavoidable as it may be, however, it is not impossible to deal with, as scaling is precisely what’s required to remove it.
The procedure is quite simple and, in particular, painless, though this is what patients tend to be most worried about when seated in the waiting room waiting to see the dentist. The reason dental scaling is painless these days is that it’s now carried out using a special ultrasonic technique in the majority of cases. This involves the use of a metal tip that attaches to the end of a handpiece and vibrates at a very high frequency. Though completely painless, the vibrations produced will easily remove the tartar.
There are also other techniques available, such as air abrasion and root planing, but these are less commonly used. The reason it’s important to get teeth scaled is primarily health related. As tartar builds up, your gums will gradually begin to separate from your teeth, thus creating spaces in which bacteria can proliferate, which can potentially lead to various oral health conditions, such as receding gums. Click here for further information about dental scaling.
How does dental scaling give you a nicer smile?
Though it’s actually an oral health procedure, scaling can also be used as a way of making your smile more attractive. This is because scaling thoroughly cleans the teeth, which also includes removing those small stains that coffee and tobacco can sometimes leave behind. After scaling, therefore, your teeth will be whiter than before. Tartar has a nasty tendency to get encrusted in the gaps between teeth.
Though you might think it’s not visible, getting your teeth scaled will make you realise that your teeth were actually not all that clean before. The reshaping of the outline of your teeth that scaling produces will also sharpen your smile, making it even more natural and dazzling. The secret to a nice smile is getting teeth regularly scaled by a health professional.
How many times a year should you have it done?
The frequency at which scaling should be performed is something for your dentist to decide. Tartar doesn’t build up at the same rate in everyone. It depends on both your teeth and your oral hygiene, and there are also various medical conditions that can affect the speed at which tartar accumulates. As a general guideline, however, two visits to the specialist per year should normally be enough to maintain a spectacular smile all year round. And above and beyond just your smile, this will also ensure your teeth are in first-rate condition in terms of cleanliness and hygiene.
You might also be tempted by the range of other methods, of varying degrees of reliability, that are claimed to slow down the build up of tartare. Some of these methods can be more effective than others, but they won’t allow you to remove tartar as well as a professional can using specialist equipment.
Though visiting a health professional twice a year is something we most definitely recommend, this does not free you from the need to look after your own oral hygiene on a daily basis. In fact, brushing your teeth properly and thoroughly will help to regularly remove much of the dental plaque that eventually turns into tartar. This will avoid you having to make more frequent visits to the dentist or feeling the need to hide your smile between appointments.