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Professional tooth cleaning

What happens during the appointment, how long it takes and how often it makes sense.

Healthy teeth for a lifetime! That wish can only be granted if patient and dental practice walk the same path

An individual, risk-oriented prevention concept is an indispensable part of it, alongside regular check-ups. One of the central measures of prevention is PTC, professional tooth cleaning, as a supplement to daily oral hygiene at home

However thoroughly and regularly the teeth and the spaces between them are cleaned, bacterial deposits still find enough room and enough hiding places where brushes, bristles and floss cannot reach them

Professional tooth cleaning (PTC) is an essential part of the prevention concept and of particular importance for every patient. As a rule the PTC is carried out by specialised and particularly well qualified dental staff such as the dental hygienist (DH), the dental prevention assistant (ZMP) or the dental specialist assistant (ZMF), following defined working procedures. In the course of a systematic examination and diagnosis by the dentist, the state of oral and dental health is established first

The working steps of the PTC are in principle the same for every group, from the child to the senior. Within the individual age groups, special materials, methods and instruments are used that call for experience and particular knowledge of dental hygiene. First the patient rinses with a special disinfecting solution before the deposits are made visible with a disclosing solution. Then plaque and tartar are removed using hand and powered instruments. Depending on how pronounced the deposits are and how deep the gum pockets go, the effort involved varies. Gum pockets may only be cleaned by the dentist or a dental hygienist (subgingivally / below the gum line). Afterwards the teeth are polished and the surfaces sealed with fluoride against rapid recolonisation by bacteria. Tips and advice as well as instructions and exercises for effective oral hygiene at home conclude the PTC

After a professional tooth cleaning the necks of the teeth may be briefly oversensitive. Depending on the patient's cooperation and motivation, intervals between three and six months are agreed for the PTC. Where cooperation is good and the risk of disease low, a PTC every six months is usually sufficient

Professional tooth cleaning consists of several individual steps. First, in a coarse cleaning with an ultrasonic or air scaler and hand instruments, the hard deposits (tartar) are removed. In the fine cleaning that follows, the soft deposits and the remains of the hard ones are removed using hand instruments and powder-water jet devices. The hand instruments are particularly sharp scalers and curettes, shaped specially for the various areas to be cleaned, and they are what makes the fine work possible in the first place. Removal of hard deposits (tartar)

Answered briefly

Frequently asked questions

First the findings, then the removal of hard and soft deposits – including just below the gum line –, after that the cleaning of the spaces between the teeth, the polishing and finally the fluoridation. It ends with instruction on which technique suits your teeth.
An hour is the rule, longer where there is a lot of plaque or where pockets are deep. Anyone back out of the door after twenty minutes has not had a complete cleaning.
As a rule, no. Work on exposed tooth necks and in deep pockets can be unpleasant; a local anaesthetic is possible there. Say so beforehand, not afterwards.
The price depends on the effort involved: the number of teeth, the amount of deposits, the condition of the gums and the time spent. Ask for the amount in advance – naming it is part of proper treatment.
No. The instruments and powders used are matched to the hardness of enamel. Brushing at home with a strongly abrasive toothpaste and a lot of pressure, by contrast, removes more than any cleaning at the practice.