gap after cleaning

[russeli]

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Can hygienists remove tooth structure using their electric scalers and hand scalers?

I'm 23 years old. I went to see a new dentist yesterday and since it has been over a year since my last cleaning, their hygienist(who was not very nice) did a cleaning for me. I was being in a lot of pain as she was scraping my lower teeth. I told her i have pain and she offered to numb me, which i said no to. Anyway, I get home from the dentist and I see huge gaps between my front two teeth and one of the adjacent ones. I had a mild buildup of tartar but during my 23years of life I've never seen gaps between my teeth after cleanings. I have perfectly straight teeth(never had braces) and my gums in the front do not have any recession. The gap that is in between my teeth runs to almost a milliliter from the top of my teeth. I'm so sad now and feel like they are just going to tell me that it was buildup that they removed. Could the hygienist have actually removed any of my tooth structure. I was in a lot of pain 🙁 help please!

 

[NewNameForGoogleBot]

wait for it . . .

 

[dentstd]

Can hygienists remove tooth structure using their electric scalers and hand scalers?

I'm 23 years old. I went to see a new dentist yesterday and since it has been over a year since my last cleaning, their hygienist(who was not very nice) did a cleaning for me. I was being in a lot of pain as she was scraping my lower teeth. I told her i have pain and she offered to numb me, which i said no to. Anyway, I get home from the dentist and I see huge gaps between my front two teeth and one of the adjacent ones. I had a mild buildup of tartar but during my 23years of life I've never seen gaps between my teeth after cleanings. I have perfectly straight teeth(never had braces) and my gums in the front do not have any recession. The gap that is in between my teeth runs to almost a milliliter from the top of my teeth. I'm so sad now and feel like they are just going to tell me that it was buildup that they removed. Could the hygienist have actually removed any of my tooth structure. I was in a lot of pain 🙁 help please!

That sounds about right. You're supposed to have a small gap between teeth. And yes, those scalers don't do a good job of removing enamel, so what they removed are buildup. Cheer up. They did everything right. Don't decline anesthetics next time if you don't want to hurt.

 

[browncrack]

If you have soft teeth then this is possible. ibtl.

 

[aphistis]

If you have soft teeth then this is possible. ibtl.

Oh lord, don't encourage the "soft teeth" garbage.

To the OP: Yes, they're going to tell you it was "just buildup" they removed--because it was, in fact, just built-up calculus. The hygienist didn't do anything to the native hard tissue of your teeth. But you should still ask, because everything in this thread has been informational and not to be construed as professional advice. IBTL.

 

[Daurang]

Ibtl.

 

[mike3kgt]

Oh lord, don't encourage the "soft teeth" garbage.

Aphistis,

Come on man! When I worked in public health I used to have a pool with the office. Every time somebody used to say one of the two following phrases, that office member could go to the kid's toy box and take ONE toy.

1. I was told that I have soft teeth, doc!
2. I guess the baby stole my calcium, doc!

Man, there were a couple of times that I would time it to the second that one of these two phrases would come up. Good times...

 

[FreeFallin]

That sounds about right. You're supposed to have a small gap between teeth. And yes, those scalers don't do a good job of removing enamel, so what they removed are buildup. Cheer up. They did everything right. Don't decline anesthetics next time if you don't want to hurt.

Gotta agree here. And, as an RDH myself, it was calculus your hygienist removed..not enamel. Enamel is the hardest substance in the body, so a dental instrument would be required to disrupt that, not a hygiene instrument. And, next time definitely don't say 'no' to numbing. There are ways to make the patient more comfortable, and these options are available. Sorry you had not such a good experience, but they are not all like that.

 

[DrReo]

Takin' a while, what key was it?

 

[tinman831]

You guys know that there is a "report post" button right? Why not do that rather than post random nonsense?

 

[tinman831]

OP, please contact your dentist with any questions you might have. SDN is not the place to solicit medical advice.