Deep Dental Cleaning vs. Regular Cleaning: What’s the Difference? 

Is it time to book your next dental appointment? Has life gotten busy, and you missed your routine appointment?

Scheduling these appointments at regular intervals keep your teeth looking beautiful and ensure healthy and strong teeth for general wellness. When they’re not cleaned, they grow weaker and are more prone to infections. In some circumstances, tooth loss may occur. 

To prevent this from happening, talk to us about which type of cleaning is right for you. You may be recommended to schedule a deep cleaning or a regular cleaning. If you’ve been getting a regular cleaning your whole life, it may be time to consider a deeper cleanse. While both help maintain oral health, there are some distinct differences between the two. 

Deep cleaning vs regular cleaning – what’s the difference? Keep reading to find out!

What is a Regular Dental Cleaning? 

A standard six-month exam would generally include a basic dental cleaning. During a normal dental cleaning, your hygienist will use high-tech equipment to remove tough buildup and stubborn plaque deposits from the enamel surface above your gums. Integrating this into your regular dental examinations is critical for avoiding gum disease and even treating small symptoms of the disease known as gingivitis. 

In order to identify and prevent gum disease, getting your teeth professionally cleaned helps keep halitosis (bad breath) at bay. Routine cleanings are typically paired with regular check-ups to allow the dentist to inspect your teeth, do an oral cancer screening, and take radiographs as needed.

What is a Deep Dental Cleaning? 

If your gums are irritated, or you notice blood on your toothbrush, you’re likely overdue for a dental cleaning. A deep cleaning is a periodontal treatment that involves treating the teeth from the gum line all the way down to the roots. It is frequently recommended for those who have tartar growth on their teeth and below the gumline, which can lead to serious infections in their gums.

Deep scaling is one form of deep cleaning that involves clearing plaque from the teeth by manually scraping beneath the gum line using a dental scaler. It includes the use of ultrasonic technology to remove plaque from the surface of the teeth. 

What is the Difference Between the Two?  

There is a significant difference between a deep cleaning and a regular routine cleaning.  Both cleanings remove plaque and tartar from the teeth and gums with the use of Scalers and Ultrasonic instrumentation, however, it is very important to understand the difference between the two.

A deep cleaning is a nonsurgical periodontal treatment that consists of two blended techniques that are used to treat early and late stages of gum disease.

It is composed of two parts:

1. Scaling. This technique removes plaque and tartar from below the surface of the teeth and all the areas with pockets (4mm or deeper) between the teeth and gums.
2. Root planning. During this process, the tooth root is smoothed. This makes it more difficult for bacteria to attach to the tooth and helps the gum tissue reattach to the tooth.

Deep cleanings usually require more than one visit. In addition, there is a follow-up reevaluation to ensure that your gum and pocket depth are healing and returning to within normal limits.  A more frequent recall can be suggested to continue to maintain the health of the gums and teeth. If you’ve had deep cleanings due to periodontal (gum) disease, it is common for us to recommend more frequent hygiene appointments, such as every three to four months.

A routine cleaning is a treatment to maintain the plaque and bacteria and keep them from releasing into your bloodstream and body. Its focus is to clean and disrupt any colonies of bacteria that sit at and above the gumline. It’s composed of scaling and polishing on and above the gums (provided the pocket depths are 3mm or less) and requires one visit every six months to ensure that the pocket depth and health of the teeth are maintained.

How Necessary is a Deep Cleaning? 

As previously said, a deep dental cleaning is required to avoid bacteria development in the roots and crevices of the teeth. Unchecked bacteria development can cause irreversible damage. The more it progresses, we may see bone loss on the radiographs and moderate to severe recession clinically. This in turn could lead to tooth loss. Here are some of the causes and circumstances that necessitate a thorough dental cleaning. 

• If you’re experiencing symptomssuch as gum redness or irritation, swelling of the gum line, bleeding during brushing, chronic bad breath, teeth loosening from the gums, and pus in the gum region. 
• When your dental hygienist advises complete deep teeth
• As part of standard oral health operations performed on a yearly basis.
• If you haven’t seen your hygienist in more than six months.
• If you seem unable to remove hard buildup from the surface of the teeth, it is likely that it has calcified and requires thorough scaling.
• If you have already suffered from gum disorders such as gingivitis and periodontitis.

What are Standard Deep Cleaning Procedures? 

Most dental hygienists will follow the same standard steps in a normal cleaning procedure:

• Initial Assessment: Your dentist will want to have a conversation to learn about and note any changes to your dental history, as well as if are taking any medication. Depending on the specialists’ assessment, they may propose additional tests such as an X-ray for a more thorough inspection.
• Periodontal Charting: Your hygienist or dentist will then measure the depth of the gum pockets. The depth will be determined by the specialist using a particular instrument, which should be about 1-3 mm on average. This procedure is known as periodontal probing, and is used to evaluate if there is evidence of disease.
• Scaling: If the hygienist concludes that the gum pockets are within the usual range of depth, they will physically scrape plaque and tartar off the tooth surface using ultrasonic equipment.
• Polishing: The dentist will polish the teeth using a gritty toothpaste, followed by air polishing which helps smooth the surface even more.
• Flossing: To completely clean your mouth, they will use threaded floss, dental picks, and tiny brushes that can reach between the teeth.
• Fluoride Treatment: The teeth will then be washed with a fluoride solution and fluoride varnish to treat and remineralize the enamel.

Deep Cleaning vs Regular Cleaning: Is It Time to Schedule an Appointment? 

Now that you know the difference between deep cleaning vs regular cleaning, considering if it’s time to book an appointment. At Muscaro & Martini Dentistry, we take pride in our high-end services and expert care. Prioritize oral hygiene by getting a cleaning done twice a year. This will help prevent cavities, minimize tooth loss, and keep your pearly whites intact. 

While routine cleaning focuses on the gum line to scale and polish the outer surface of the teeth, deep cleaning entails eliminating bacteria colonies and tartar from the teeth’s roots. People who have had gum disease treated often express how much healthier they feel overall as a result of their treatment.

It’s remarkable how hard our bodies work to fight against illness and doing our part to keep up with appointments helps keep our health intact in the long run. Patients who keep up their maintenance appointments and frequent cleanings after treatment say that brushing and flossing are easy and no longer painful. 

To arrange your deep cleaning appointment, please contact our office.