Tooth Polishing

Tooth polishing is one of two dental hygiene procedures that occur during a teeth cleaning. A cleaning usually starts with scaling, which removes any plaque or calculus from the teeth using a hand tool. This is the part of the cleaning where the dentist or hygienist will gently scrape the teeth with a tiny metal hook, called a curette. Next, teeth are polished using very fine grit paste. The paste is applied with a small spinning rubber cup on the end of a handpiece. The polishing cup is pressed against each of your teeth, or just the teeth that have stains. After polishing is complete, any excess paste will be rinsed with water & removed using the suction handpiece.

While previous wisdom held that there was a medical benefit to tooth polishing (it was thought it made it harder for plaque to stick to teeth), this has been disproven over the last few decades. The main benefit of a tooth polishing is the removal of surface stains that are too stubborn for you to remove yourself using just a toothbrush. More than anything, we find that patients appreciate the smooth feeling & lustrous gleam of freshly polished teeth!