Teeth cleaning is part of oral hygiene and involves the removal of dental plaque from teeth with the intention of preventing cavities (dental caries), gingivitis, and periodontal disease. Dentist and dental hygienists can remove hardened deposits not removed by routine cleaning. The objective of scaling or deep cleaning, is to remove or eliminate the etiologic agents which cause inflammation: dental plaque, its products and calculus, thus helping to establish a periodontium that is free of disease.
If there is periodontal disease it may require deep scaling and root cleaning to stabilise the disease.