Dental descaling: 8 things to know (price, frequency, utility …)

A descaling can be performed at a dentist or periodontist

Scaling is a dental procedure that is practiced by a dentist or a periodontist.

After diagnosis of a periodontal disease, the dentist can send his patient to a periodontist who can take charge of the pathology, starting with a suitable descaling procedure.

The management of a dental loosening for example will be proposed by a periodontist, who will treat the loosening and adjust the frequency of descaling.

A descaling is used to remove tartar ... But not only!

Scaling is the removal of 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 allows the removal of the bacterial biofilm (dental plaque) which over time and saliva has calcified.

The purpose of the descaling is to control the absence of inflation of the gums, which is at the origin of the problems of dental decays.

But what controls the absence of gingival inflammation is the quality of daily toothbrushing by the patient.

The quality of the brushing is also, to see more important than the descaling

Decalcification does not guarantee good dental hygiene, but it allows the brushing performed by the patient on a daily basis to be effective. It is with dental brushing, made possible by the regular descaling, that one looks after the gums.

Everything is actually played out in the brushing of the teeth: the descaling is only one way to make this brushing effective and to avoid that a chronic inflammation appears and activates the slow but progressive deteriorations in the mouth.

Hence the importance of combining daily brushing and regular descaling with daily interdental cleaning.

For maximum efficiency interdental brushes are ideal, to prevent tooth decoupling. Dental floss is another possibility.

Several techniques are used to descale

• The oldest technique is the manual descaling technique, which consists in using a curette that will scratch the root.
• The most common type of descaling is descaling with ultrasound. The modification of the tips that we use today allows effective descaling under the gum, without creating uncomfortable pain.
• There is also the laser, which will succeed in destroying the scale and the bacteria on the surface of the root, like the ultrasounds, but which is especially effective on the shallow descaling (in case of moderate or severe scale, the ultrasounds remain more effective and less expensive).

Frequency varies from patient to patient as needed

As a teenager, it is important to regularly visit your dentist for a descaling procedure.

The frequency will depend on the patient, its quality of brushing, and intrinsic and environmental factors: the objective is that the patient does not have gingiva sick, so several factors must be taken into account before determining a frequency.

For example some patients will need 2 to 3 descaling per year, while others will only need annual descaling.

But in general, a descaling must be done at least once a year.

Special features in case of crowns or dental implants

People who have crowns or dental implants in their mouths need to maintain them even more regularly.

For a descaling around an implant, the dentist will not use conventional ultrasound, and will use a subgingival air polishing (kind of mini karcher), which allows not to touch the implant directly with an instrument, to avoid scratching the surface of the implant, which would increase the risk of fixing bacteria.

The price of a descaling procedure at a dentist is fixed

The descaling is a medical act reimbursed by the Social Security, whose price is 28 euros 92.

On the other hand, when the patient is taken care of in a periodontology office, the prices are variable, because the periodontist is free to determine his prices.

No contraindications, only precautions to take

At any age, regular scaling is recommended, and should always be combined with good toothbrushing (an electric toothbrush is highly recommended for elderly people who can no longer perform effective brushing of their teeth).

Patients at high cardiac risk, should be put on antibiotic prophylaxis (antibiotic preventive) because the descaling induces a bacteremia important.

In pregnant women, contrary to popular belief, there is no contraindication, quite the opposite! A descaling is strongly advised, because of the hormonal modifications in the pregnant woman who tend to make the gum more easily sick.

Thanks to Dr. Lowenstein, Dentist-Periodontist. Find more information on www.parosphere.org

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