Many patients in the clinic usually ask the doctor when they receive oral treatment: Is it necessary to clean the teeth every year? Will scaling damage the teeth? Will scaling cause teeth to loosen? Why is my tooth gap getting bigger and bigger? Why can’t I eat hot or cold after scaling? In this article, we will answer the above questions one by one. In explaining the above problem, I first state a concept to you, calculus – calculus is a kind of mineralized or mineralizing plaque and soft scale deposited on the surface of the tooth surface or restoration from the saliva or gingival sulcus inorganic salts such as calcium salts gradually deposited therein and formed once formed can not be removed by brushing methods of calculus hazards: calculus is gum bleeding periodontal pocket deepening The presence of tartar will hinder the implementation of daily oral hygiene measures once formed, brushing is no longer effective in removing it, but must be removed by mechanical cleaning. It must be removed by mechanical cleaning. I. Is it necessary to clean my teeth every year? It takes only twelve to fifteen hours for calculus to form, so it is generally recommended to have a dental cleaning every six months to a year. Once the calculus is formed, brushing is no longer effective in removing it, and it must be removed mechanically by a dentist, such as ultrasonic scaling. Second, will scaling damage the teeth? Many people may feel that the surface of the teeth is very rough after scaling, so they worry that scaling will cause damage to the enamel on the surface of the teeth. In fact, the surface of normal healthy teeth is very smooth, once the calculus is deposited on the tooth surface, the acid produced by bacteria will lead to demineralization of the tooth surface, so it will cause the tooth surface to be uneven, once the calculus is removed, the uneven surface will make you feel rough. Once the calculus is removed, the tooth surface is exposed to healthy oral salivary calcium ions and remineralization can occur in a short period of time. This uncomfortable feeling can also be eliminated by polishing the teeth after scaling. Undeniably, non-correct operation of the ultrasonic scaler can produce scratches on the tooth surface, so please go to a regular hospital clinic for scaling. Third, will scaling cause loose teeth? Tooth scaling will not cause loosening of teeth. The teeth are fixed in the socket and surrounded by periodontal tissues. When calculus is attached to the periodontal tissue for a long time, it will cause inflammation of the periodontal tissue, making the gum bleeding and redness, loss of periodontal attachment, resorption and shrinkage of the alveolar bone, which will lead to loose teeth in serious cases. Therefore, calculus is the culprit of loose teeth. In some patients with severe periodontitis, the teeth are surrounded by calculus and the alveolar bone is resorbed to the root tip, so the teeth lose the retention force of the calculus after removing it, and the looseness will increase. Scaling removes calculus, eliminates gum inflammation and controls the resorption of alveolar bone, which can effectively relieve tooth loosening. Fourth, will scaling lead to an increase in the gap between teeth? Scaling will not lead to an increase in the gap between teeth, as normal teeth are surrounded by healthy periodontal tissue. The long-term accumulation of calculus will lead to the resorption of alveolar bone, receding gums, and the gap between teeth will gradually increase and be occupied by calculus. Scaling to remove calculus will control the recession of the gums and control the enlargement of the gaps. Some patients may mistakenly believe that the removal of calculus that occupies the gaps between teeth will lead to the increase of the gaps. V. Will the teeth experience discomfort from hot and cold stimulation after scaling? The reason is that the surface of the crown of normal teeth is enamel and the surface of the root is a thin layer of bone, both of which are insensitive to hot and cold stimulation, so normal people can easily recover. However, for some patients with periodontitis, the gums recede, the alveolar bone recedes, and the roots of the teeth are exposed. The deposition of calculus on the root surface leads to the destruction of the thin surface layer of dentin and the leakage of its inner layer, dentin. Dentin contains abundant dentin tubules, which are directly connected to the pulp and are very sensitive to hot and cold stimuli. Once the dentin layer is exposed and the calculus is removed, the affected tooth will be very sensitive to hot and cold stimuli and should not be relieved. To prevent similar symptoms, the teeth are usually desensitized after scaling to relieve the discomfort of hot and cold stimuli. In addition to periodontitis patients with more obvious irritation symptoms during and after scaling, there are also patients with dentin hypersensitivity (e.g. wedge chipping, heavy abrasion) who also have more obvious irritation symptoms and need desensitization treatment. Therefore, professional dentists recommend that you have supragingival scaling every six months to a year in a regular hospital to remove calculus and prevent periodontitis.