Dental knowledge: polishing the teeth

As part of professional tooth cleaning, the teeth are polished after the fine cleaning. The preceding cleaning steps roughen the tooth surfaces, and if left unsmoothed they would quickly be colonised by bacteria and deposits again.

To prevent this, the smooth surfaces of the teeth are polished to a high shine with small rubber cups and brushes and with fluoride-containing polishing pastes of varying grit. For the same reason the interdental spaces are cleaned finely once more and smoothed with dental floss, superfloss or polishing strips. The result is shiny, very smooth tooth surfaces on which new deposits find it harder to form.

Finally, applying fluoride gels or varnishes gives the teeth an additional protective film.