Benefits of Scaling
 

january 18, 2019

If you are suffering from a mild to medium level of gum disease, your dentist may recommend the use of scaling to help with your treatment. Additionally, dental scaling can be used as a preventative treatment too, as we will explore further.

In this piece, we first look at what scaling is, followed by the benefits of scaling.

What Is Scaling?

The first process of scaling is often to numb the gums before beginning, ensuring that no pain is felt by the patient. Once this has been completed, a special scraper is then used to remove a build-up of debris, such as tartar. It is also common for an ultrasound tool to be used, in order to remove larger pieces.

Water is then continually used to wash away the debris, with a suction system in place to take out the mixture of saliva, water, and other substances from the mouth.

The Benefits of Scaling

There are a number of benefits of scaling, with one of the most prominent being to treat gum disease. This is one of the most common reasons that people undergo scaling, though there are several other reasons too.

Healthier Gums

Dental scaling is an important part of gum disease management. Regularly removing tartar from below the gum line helps to curb the growth of the bacteria that cause gum disease. In addition to regular dental scaling, your dentist might recommend that you use a tartar control toothpaste to reduce the rate at which tartar builds up on your teeth and gums.

Better Overall Health

Many studies link gum disease with serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and dementia. Researchers think that the bacteria that cause gum disease could travel to other parts of the body through the blood vessels, causing disease in those other body parts. Another theory is that the inflammation associated with gum disease causes damage to blood vessels, which can make many conditions worse. Whatever the exact mechanism might be, dentists agree that gum disease management is important for protecting overall health.

Whiter Teeth

Tartar has a yellow shade that can make your teeth look dull and dirty. When your dentist removes tartar from your teeth, you might notice that your smile looks brighter and whiter.

Lower Dental Costs

Spending money on procedures that help with gum disease management is a good way to invest in your dental health. If you allow gum disease to progress without treatment, it can do serious damage to your oral health and lead to you needing expensive procedures. For example, advanced gum disease often results in teeth loosening or falling out, which means you would need dentures or dental implants to replace them. These teeth replacement options are typically much more expensive than dental scaling, which means it is never a good idea to skip a recommended scaling to save money. Instead, talk to your dentist about dental plans which could help you afford regular dental scaling and other procedures to prevent and manage gum disease.

Lesser Known Benefit of Scaling

One of the lesser known benefits of scaling is that it can also help to reduce bad breath. As gum disease and other oral problems can cause bad breath as a side effect, removing the root cause can help you to reduce or eliminate problems with bad breath.

Dr.Sridhar Internationl Dental Hospitals