Tooth polishing is nice but unnecessary

Q: Is tooth polishing necessary at the end of a dental visit?

A: Polishing teeth makes them gleam and feel smooth, but the procedure isn't necessary.

"There is no health benefit to polishing," said Julie Frantsve-Hawley, the editor of The International Journal of Evidence-Based Practice for the Dental Hygienist. "It's not going to affect tooth decay, gum disease or oral cancer."

In its latest position paper, the American Dental Hygienists' Association advises that polishing should not be considered a routine part of a dental cleaning. So feel free to skip it.

Polishing with a gritty paste can remove stains on a tooth's surface. But to get rid of stains, hygienists should also be scaling, said Marcia Lorentzen, the dean of the Fones School of Dental Hygiene at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Scaling typically involves removing tartar and plaque from the teeth using a metal hooklike instrument.

Polishing once was the standard care for all teeth until research showed that doing so removes enamel. Then in the 1970s, an influential textbook, Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist by Dr. Esther Wilkins, recommended "selective polishing" -- meaning the hygienist should only shine stained parts of the teeth and not the whole set.

As to whether enamel will be worn down, Frantsve-Hawley, a registered dental hygienist who has a doctorate in biological and biomedical sciences, said twice-a-year polishing at the dentist's office, even with the coarsest paste, is "not frequent enough to cause significant damage to the enamel."

Lorentzen agreed, saying, "Polishing is not a significant risk."

By contrast, not using a soft toothbrush or brushing too hard daily can damage the softer structures of the teeth, including the cementum, the surface layer of the tooth root.

Patients who remained concerned about enamel damage but want polishing can request the dental hygienist use a finer-grained paste.

ActiveStyle on 02/08/2016

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