Dental terms: A brief explanation

Scraping

When you have to go to a dentist for a periodic monitoring, they probably start with scraping. Scraping means that they are going to delete some scale from your teeth. They do this with a little instrument which vibrates 25,000 times per second. The tip breaks loose tartar into many small pieces. Because every person is different in terms of pain, it's difficult to say if it hurts or not. For some persons it is very sensitive and the other suffers from nowhere.

the creation of a hole in one of your teeth. Source: tandarts den haag

Polish

Polishing is the removal of dental plaque or the removal of stains from the teeth. This is also possible at a audit appointment. They do this with a kind of drill. Also with this treatment it is hard to say if it is going to hurt or not. It can be sensitive for some persons.  The dentist can also polish your teeth if you just need a refill, and it is not entirely smooth.

Fillings

If you have a small hole in one of your teeth, you need to go to a dentist to have drilling and filling. The dentist can also fill a hole when a piece of tooth is broken. To do this a simple white filling is often used. Some persons experienced that a silver filling is less sensitive than the white ones. These people say that they have less problems with silver fillings than with white fillings. This could be due to a particular substance of the filling. 

Before the dentist's starts to the drill, you can choose to get an anesthesia. This is often effects your tongue and your mouth is completely paralyzed. 

Crowns

If the tooth is significantly affected, it may discolor. If the tooth and the roots of the teeth are still good, the dentist can put a crown on it. Because the treatment is quite complicated, it is so that you still have to come back several times. A crown ensures that your teeth looks the same as they dit before