The type of cleaning you will need is based on the health and condition of your supporting gum and bones. A basic or routine cleaning is called a dental prophylaxis or a “prophy.” A patient is a candidate for a prophy if they have no bone loss from gum disease and slight-moderate calculus (tartar) above the gum only.

If it has been a long time since your last cleaning and a lot of calculus has built up on your teeth, we may need to do an extra cleaning called a debridement. A debridement is an extra cleaning where we remove the large pieces of calculus from the teeth and gums which prevent us from doing a thorough exam.

Patients who have bone loss from gum disease and calculus below the gums, need to have a different type of cleaning called a scaling and root planing (SCRP). A SCRP is also called a deep cleaning because we must go beneath the infected gum tissue to get the buried calculus out. SCRP is really not just cleaning teeth, it is a gum disease treatment. Anyone who is getting SCRP has some degree of gum disease. To do this, we work on one side of the mouth at a time and put the area to sleep with a local anesthetic. The dental hygienist removes (or scales) of the calculus from below the gums. The hygienist then smooths (or planes) the tooth root surface so that it is smooth. A smooth tooth surface will allow the infected gums to reattach to the tooth and be healthy again. Although we can’t grow back bone that was lost to periodontal disease, we can prevent bone loss from progressing and return your teeth, gums, and mouth to a healthy stable state.

Generally speaking, you should have a dental cleaning every 6 months. However, some people require more frequent dental cleanings. Some people build up tartar or calculus faster than others and therefore need to be cleaned more frequently. Also, some people with gum disease will require more frequent cleanings and gum treatments to maintain oral health. Along with your dentist, Dr. Boss or Dr. Packard, your hygienist will let you know if you the best cleaning frequency schedule for your mouth.