As people’s oral health awareness continues to improve, more and more people know the term “scaling”, but I’m afraid few people are really clear about what is going on, today I talk with you about what you do not know about “scaling” those things. 1.What is scaling? The professional term for scaling is called “scaling”, which is a professional treatment to remove the plaque, calculus and pigment accumulated on the surface of the teeth with special medical equipment. Depending on the tools used, there are two clinical categories: manual scaling and ultrasonic scaling. Manual scaling is the use of professional hand instruments like “small hooks” to “pry” the calculus off the tooth surface, which requires high operating skills and special tools and is not used much in clinical practice, but it is still useful for some special patients. However, it can be useful for certain patients, such as those with pacemakers without shielding, and those with certain infectious diseases. Ultrasonic scaling, which uses a high-frequency vibrating head to remove calculus, is more efficient and is now widely used in clinical practice. There is no difference in the clinical treatment effect of the two methods. 2, scaling is an important means of preventing and treating periodontal diseases Plaque and calculus on the tooth surface are the culprits of periodontal diseases, so they must be removed regularly to maintain periodontal health. If you don’t get your teeth cleaned regularly, the more the calculus accumulates, the more serious the periodontal disease will become, which will slowly lead to swollen and painful gums, loose and displaced teeth, and even tooth loss. What we usually call “old tooth loss” is actually the result of the advanced development of periodontal disease. For patients with moderate to severe periodontal disease, scaling is only the first step of treatment, but not the entire content of treatment. 3, the purpose of scaling is to treat and prevent periodontal disease The purpose of scaling is not to whiten, but to treat and prevent periodontal disease; secondly, scaling does not necessarily make the teeth white. Scaling can only remove the pigmented tartar deposited on the surface of the teeth and return the teeth to their original appearance, if the patient has a lot of pigmented tartar, scaling can indeed play a certain whitening effect, but if the patient’s teeth themselves are abnormally colored, rather than exogenous pigmentation, scaling cannot change the color of the teeth. Just like washing clothes, white clothes can be washed white when they are dirty, but other colors will not be washed white when they are dirty. 4.Is scaling harmful? The previous are the benefits of scaling, but many people still think that scaling is harmful to teeth, that scaling will destroy the enamel on the surface of the teeth, in fact, this is also a misconception. The hardness of tooth enamel is much greater than the tools used for scaling, these instruments will not form scratches on the teeth visible to the naked eye, if observed with a high-powered microscope, the roughness of the tooth surface after scaling will slightly increase, so generally after scaling there is a polishing session, after polishing, even with a microscope can not see any traces. There are also people who think that scaling will infect diseases, in fact, the regular medical institutions have a strict sterilization system, each set of instruments are autoclaved before use, so do not worry. 5.Reminder: What should I pay attention to after scaling? Within 2~3 days after scaling, avoid stimulation of cold and hot diet as much as possible, which will reduce many sensitive symptoms. In addition, you should brush your teeth carefully after scaling, because if you do not brush your teeth thoroughly, the teeth will be cleaned and the calculus will still grow back. If you have the habit of smoking and drinking tea, try to control the amount of smoking and drinking tea within 1~2 weeks after scaling, otherwise the pigmentation is still fast, of course, it is better if you can quit smoking, after all, smoking is harmful to your body and teeth. The last thing to note is that scaling is not a one-time thing, but a regular scaling to maintain long-term periodontal health. It is generally recommended to get a dental cleaning every six months to a year.