What Does Scaling and Root Planing Do?

Also known as deep cleaning, scaling and root planing is meant to curtail gum disease in its mild or middle stages. This control is accomplished by going into the gums and scraping away all the plaque and tartar that have collected there.

As nearly half of Americans are at some stage of gum disease, scaling and root planing is a necessary deterrent that our dentist in Van Nuys performs on a regular basis.

Past a certain point, you can no longer clean your teeth yourself, at least not in a way that removes the right materials.

To determine the stage of your gum disease, the dentist will do x-rays and a full-mouth exam. If the x-rays show bone loss, or if measurements find you have periodontal pockets deeper than 4 millimeters, you are a candidate for scaling and root planing.

Scaling is the scraping, or removal, part of the procedure. Planing involves smoothing any root structure that may be impacting with the gum.

Typically our expert in scaling and root planing in Van Nuys will do the deep clean one quadrant of the mouth at a time. It is important to treat only the sick areas, and not involve healthy tissue.

For more about scaling and root planing, contact someone from our group.