Teeth polishing is a popular procedure that leaves patients with a fresh clean feeling. It is typically performed as one of the last steps during a dental cleaning appointment after the hygienist scales away loose plaque and calcified tartar.
Teeth staining is divided into two types endogenous and exogenous stains. The former include developmental, drug induced or enamel hypoplasia stains and the latter are caused by foods and harmful habits such as smoking.
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1. Coarse Abrasion
Tooth polishing removes plaque and tartar from the teeth to prevent gum disease. The hygienist scrapes the hard tartar with special instruments to remove it and then polishes the teeth to make them shiny and smooth.
Tooth cleaning involves the use of abrasive materials like rouge, tripoli, cuttle, and coarse pumice to polish teeth. A prophy angle and a dental tape is used to access proximal areas of the teeth, while care is taken to avoid injury to the gingiva and cementum.
Polishing can remove extrinsic stains, which are due to food and harmful habits like tobacco smoking and betel quid chewing. However, it cannot remove endogenous stains like developmental, drug induced or enamel hypoplasia stains.
2. Fine Abrasion
Tooth polishing is done to remove supragingival stains and biofilm from the surface of the teeth. This procedure also exposes the dentin tubules to air which aids in remineralization and reduces tooth sensitivity.
The amount of abrasive used and polishing time impacts the abrasion rate on the surface of the tooth. Dry abrasives (like pumice) generate more heat and friction, but are less abrasive than wet abrasives like calcium carbonate.
A porte or engine-driven polisher with a fine, rounded abrasive tip can polish proximal areas that are inaccessible to brushing. This type of abrasion is gentle and produces fewer aerosols than power-driven scalers.
3. Light Abrasion
Traditionally polishing has been an essential part of dental cleaning. But, since it removes outer layers of enamel, it is not recommended to be used frequently. In fact, the latest recommendation is to use it selectively for stains that persist after other kinds of cleaning.
This technique uses a jet of air, water and an abrasive agent such as sodium bicarbonate or glycine to polish the surface. It is a gentler alternative to other types of tooth polishing and causes minimal or no damage. It also reduces the occurrence of gingivitis. This type of polishing can be done using manual or engine-driven equipment.
4. Dry Abrasion
A popular option, dry abrasion uses superfine polishing paste to make the teeth look lustrous. However, it offers no curative benefits and is purely cosmetic in nature.
Dental hygienists typically use a small, soft rubber cup with polishing paste during this procedure. It is recommended that any underlying oral issues like gum disease, tooth sensitivity or exposed root surfaces are treated before teeth are polished.
Tooth polishing helps eliminate small crevices and rough areas that can hold bacteria and plaque. It also makes the teeth more resistant to stain accumulation. However, it cannot remove endogenous stains. Therefore, it is not a substitute for prophylaxis.
5. Wet Abrasion
Polishing helps prevent gum disease, tooth decay, and tooth sensitivity by removing stains from the surface of teeth. It also eliminates small crevices and rough spots that can hold bacteria and plaque.
A dentist uses a handpiece and polishing paste, called prophylactic paste, to perform wet abrasion. A rubber cup or a hand-held polisher with an angled brush is used to remove soft deposits and stains from the surface of teeth.
Dental hygienists also use an engine-driven polisher to help eliminate stains from hard-to-reach areas in the mouth. Compared to traditional polishers, these devices generate fewer contaminated aerosols, which makes them safer and more comfortable for patients.
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6. Water Abrasion
Although tooth polishing removes stains and makes teeth shiny and attractive, it is not an essential dental treatment.
The procedure can cause sensitivity, expose the cementum and increase gingivitis. It can also erode the outer fluoride layers of the tooth, so it is important to do it selectively and not as part of every cleaning.
Dental hygienists use a variety of brushes and prophy pastes to polish the teeth. The abrasives in these prophylaxis pastes vary in size.
The coarse pastes have bigger abrasive particles that can cause loss of tooth structure. The fine and medium prophylaxis pastes have smaller abrasives, which leave scratches that are less than 0.5 mcm in size.
