Why do tooth loosen or space appear between teeth after scaling?
Daily Practice Observation
In my daily practice, whenever I suggest my patients to get their teeth cleaned (Get Scaling done), more than 50% of them will react in a similar way.
Half of them will share their experience and the rest will share their family or friend’s experience.
Myth
(1) The experience of observing space between teeth because of scaling.
(2) The experience of loosening of teeth because of scaling.
I am here, in attempt to bust these myths. In fact, I want to explain the reason behind it.
The person who experience these problems after scaling are not wrong. But the reason, they are giving for these problems are misunderstood.
Busting the myth
These problems are definitely seen sometimes after scaling… but these problems are not because of the treatment…
They are because of the damage done by the scales removed during treatment…
Example
There is some waste of the house that gets dumped at a particular place lets say behind the house in a yard…
This waste gets accumulated everyday.. with time it gets more and more and somehow you delay discarding that waste because of maybe lack of time, maybe because it smells bad, or because you are too lazy or scared of doing that. But anyhow someday you finally make up your mind to clear that waste. But what you see once you clear that space, that the place where that waste was accumulated, has discoloured or decayed. Do you think it is because of cleaning the place or it is because of the damage done by the waste??
Exactly… It is because of the waste.
Explanation
Similarly, when we let plaque get accumulated everyday because we dont brush or we don’t brush right, It will eventually attract bacterial growth and gets converted into calculus. Calculus is a hardened tartar like substance that keeps getting accumulated layer by layer, which irritates gums, which leads to gums leaving its place & moving lower, giving more space for accumulation of calculus and hence the process continues.
Calculus irritates gums —> gums moves lower —-> More space for calculus hence more calculus —> gums moving more lower..
This creates space between teeth and eventually loosening of teeth, which we realize only when we get that place cleaned.
Take away message
A very small amount of damage is reversible, but as the damage proceeds further, it becomes irreversible.
Thus the solution to this problem is not avoiding the scaling because it causes these problems, it is to get the scaling done frequently and timely to not let these problem affect the gums in the first place.
Every 6 months checkup of oral hygiene is hence important and essential..
Scaling does not affect your gums health, infact it is the best way to maintain health of your gums..