Dental Cleaning in the West Village

West 10th Dental provides dental cleaning services in NYC. Call 212-982-5883 to learn more and schedule your appointment.

If you are a new patient, we will first perform a comprehensive exam including digital X-rays. If your teeth and gums are currently healthy, we will schedule you for a dental cleaning. Current patients with healthy teeth and gums will be scheduled for routine exams and dental cleanings once every six months.

A dental cleaning, also known as a dental  prophylaxis, is the removal of dental plaque and tartar (calculus) from the teeth. Although brushing and flossing are the first line of defense against food debris and bacteria, they cannot remove everything. A dental cleaning helps to remove what is left behind.

We use specialized instruments to gently remove plaque and tartar without harming the teeth. First, an ultrasonic device that emits vibrations and is cooled by water is used to loosen larger pieces of tartar. Next, hand instruments  are used to manually remove smaller deposits and smooth the surfaces of the teeth. Once all the tooth surfaces have been cleaned of tartar and plaque, the teeth are polished. This is a simple procedure that should cause little or no discomfort, and it is absolutely vital to maintaining excellent oral health.

Scaling and root planing is a non-surgical procedure used to treat gum disease. If you have signs of the beginnings of gum disease, such as bleeding while brushing, but do not have pockets deeper than 3 millimeters between your teeth and gums, we can perform simple scaling and root planing during your regular cleaning.

Scaling uses specialized instruments to remove plaque and tartar from beneath the gums, while planing smooths tooth roots after the scaling process is complete. This helps the gums heal and reattach themselves to the clean, smooth root surface.

If you have more severe gum disease, with pockets of 4 millimeters or deeper, we will schedule you for a separate scaling and root planing appointment. Although the process is the same, this more in-depth procedure requires local anesthesia. We will clean out the full depth of the pockets, which would be uncomfortable if your mouth was not numb.

After an in-depth scaling and root planing, you will be scheduled for dental cleanings every three months. The pockets should recede to normal depths, but you will always be at higher risk for gum disease to recur.

Call 212-982-5883 to schedule your appointment.