Dental scaling, commonly known as gingival scaling, refers to the removal of dental plaque, plaque and color stains on gums with scaling instruments, and polishing the tooth surface to delay the redeposition of dental plaque and calculus. Plaque and calculus are the most important local stimulating factors of periodontal disease, and scaling is the most effective method to remove supragingival plaque and calculus.

According to the different locations where dental calculus is deposited, it can be divided into supragingival dental calculus and subgingival dental calculus based on the edge of gingiva. As the name implies, tooth washing is mainly responsible for removing supragingival dental calculus, but in practice, shallow subgingival dental calculus connected with supragingival dental calculus should also be removed.

Washing teeth is very good for teeth. At present, tooth diseases are mainly divided into two categories. The first category is dental pulp diseases, that is, caries first, and then pulp diseases and periapical diseases. Another category is periodontal diseases. Tooth washing can remove dental plaque on the tooth surface and dental calculus in the neck. Dental plaque is related to dental caries. Bacteria in dental plaque will produce acidic substances, destroy enamel, decalcify teeth and collapse to form dental cavities.

Tooth washing removes plaque and prevents dental caries. Tooth washing can also remove dental calculus from the neck of teeth. Bacteria attached to dental calculus will stimulate alveolar bone and cause alveolar bone atrophy. With the atrophy of alveolar bone, gums will also shrink, and periodontal disease will become worse and worse. Therefore, tooth washing also has a good therapeutic effect on periodontal diseases.

The biggest advantage of insisting on washing teeth once a year is that it can completely remove tartar and plaque attached to gingival sulcus. Because patients may not be able to brush off these soft scales during daily brushing, and the soft scales will be mineralized over time and become hard tartar, which is no longer possible to be brushed off. At this time, it is necessary to clean up the teeth. If calculus is not cleaned, calculus will accumulate continuously, causing alveolar bone to absorb and become chronic periodontitis.

Therefore, the real significance of tooth washing is to prevent periodontitis, which is usually anodyne. Why do many people feel uncomfortable after washing their teeth? It is often because they wash their teeth late, which leads to excessive accumulation of dental calculus. After removing these dental calculus, patients feel that there is a gap in their teeth or their teeth are loose, which is actually brought by dental calculus.