Taking Time to Learn About Dental Tools

You’ve come into the dental office for your regular six-month checkup and cleaning. Good for you! This is an important part of keeping up your oral health. Twice every year, we give you preventative care by giving you a thorough professional cleaning. Have you ever wondered about the tools we use?

Probe

The dental probe is a handheld instrument that allows us to poke around your mouth and gumline. We use it to check for decay, tartar, and plaque, and to measure around the gum line and the depth to your tooth roots. Also, it helps us to push your tongue out of the way.

Mirror

Not the most high-tech of our implements, but definitely one we could not get along without, the small circular mirror helps to see behind teeth and in all the crevices.

Scaler

The most valuable of our cleaning tools are the scalers, that do the job of removing the tartar and plaque from your teeth. They come in various pointed ends, hooks, and blades so that we can scrape and clean in any angle.

Curette

The curette is simply a specialized scaler for the gumline. It has a rounded end that allows us to scrape in the crevices between the gum margin and the root.

Polisher

When all the cleaning is done, we give your teeth a good buff with our powered polisher and a bit of abrasive paste. Your teeth get a good shine and become so slippery that plaque will have a hard time sticking to them for another six months. But, you still need to brush!

If you’re past due on your six-month dental checkup and cleaning, call Dr. H Arthur Nelson and our helpful team at Nelson and Associates McKinney. Phone: 972-529-5111. Make an appointment or come by our office in McKinney, Texas.