Dental Tools Used for a Teeth Cleaning

Going to the dentist bi-annually for a teeth cleaning is recommended to help keep your teeth and mouth healthy. During a dental cleaning, a dentist or dental hygienist checks on your teeth, gums, tongue, jaw, and throat. To do this, we use various dental tools to ensure you’re in good standing for your oral health. In this blog post, we will review the dental tools used for teeth cleaning.  

Dental Mirrors

Dental mirrors are a key part of dental cleaning. The small mirror allows a dental hygienist or dentist to look closely at your teeth. The mirror is especially helpful for checking on the back of your teeth for plaque buildup or a cavity. 

Dental mirrors are often concave mirrors to provide a magnified view of a patient’s tooth or mouth. This type of mirror also helps reflect light inward to one focal point. This means that the image is often brighter and bigger, making it easier to see inside a patient’s mouth.  

Saliva Ejectors

Throughout a dental cleaning, a hygienist often uses a saliva ejector, a vacuum-like tool that removes saliva during the cleaning. It also takes away plaque fragments or food debris that is removed from your teeth throughout the cleaning. The tool can also gather and remove water that is used during cleaning. 

Scalers

Scalers come in a variety of shapes and are primarily used for removing plaque from teeth. The different shape scalers can scrape plaque from your tooth surface or between your teeth. 

Curettes    

Curettes are similar to scalers. They are also used to remove plaque from your teeth. They remove plaque from the part of your tooth that is under the gum line, though. Curettes do not come to a sharp point to protect your gums.

Perio Probes 

Dental hygienists use perio probes to evaluate the gum pocket depth to check on your gum health. The perio probes are easy to identify with their hook-shaped ends.  

Polishers

One of the last tools used in the dental cleaning process is a polisher. The polisher can remove any last plaque in your mouth. It also buffs your teeth smooth which can help prevent plaque from building up on your teeth in the future. 

Ultrasonic Scalers

A mechanical scaler does the same job as the scalers mentioned above. It tends to be used for plaque and tarter that is difficult to remove. The scaling tip vibrates to remove calculus. 

Dental X-Rays

Dental x-rays are important to evaluate your teeth, but it goes beyond that. They are also used to look at the roots of your teeth, jaw, and facial bone. A dental x-ray can help catch any dental issues early to prevent further damage from occurring as well.

These are the basic dental instruments that are used for dental cleaning by the dentist or dental hygienist. Depending on the health of your teeth and gums, additional dental procedures may occur which require specific sets of tools.  

If you’re ever curious to learn more about the tools used during your cleanings, just ask your Fortson Dentistry Dentist or Hygienist next time you’re in for a cleaning! We have five convenient locations in Lathrup Village, Oak Park, and Highland, Michigan.