Scaling & Root Planing

What Is Scaling and Root Planing?

Scaling and root planing is the deep cleaning used to treat gum disease. Scaling removes plaque and hardened calculus from the tooth surfaces above and below the gumline; root planing smooths the root surfaces beneath so bacteria have less to hold onto and the gum can reattach to a clean root.

How It Differs from a Regular Cleaning

A routine cleaning works at and just below the gumline on healthy gums. Scaling and root planing reaches down into periodontal pockets where the disease is actually active — so it is usually done with local anesthetic, and often over two visits, one side of the mouth at a time.

Afterwards

Gums are typically tender for a few days and teeth can be temporarily sensitive to cold as inflamed tissue tightens back against the roots. Bleeding usually reduces noticeably within a couple of weeks.

A follow-up visit re-measures the pockets to confirm the response. From there you move onto a periodontal maintenance schedule — deep cleaning resolves the current infection, and maintenance is what stops it returning.