 Hello everybody, Andrew and my asking here with dental l so you might be wondering, is that teeth polishing or to polishing at the dentist really necessary. And what is it for. Is it for cosmetic purposes or does it actually help to clean the teeth. And is it any different than brushing at home. So these are some common questions that I do get asked. If I'm cleaning somebody's teeth, especially if somebody doesn't have insurance and they come to me and say, I just want my teeth cleaned do the bare minimum basically, but I want my teeth cleaned. And they sometimes say, do I get just a polish will that clean my teeth or do you have to use the instruments on me. So I'm going to talk a little bit about both So teeth polishing helps to take away any stain. Now the instruments that we use in the office. We use those primarily to take away stain because if stain is stuck on there really, really well the polish won't get it off just by using only the polish. We have to use our instruments first. But sometimes if there's a lot of plaque on the teeth. If you ever have the dental hygienist polish first before she actually cleans the teeth with her instruments. It's because there's so much plaque on there that we need to actually polish the teeth first to be to be able to get the tartar off. The tartar and the calculus. So plaque is that light white stuff. So that like soft white off yellow stuff that pretty much forms on your teeth right away. So polish can take that off. Which is why if we're seeing children, the polish may be all we need to clean their teeth because if they don't have any tartar. If they don't have any calculus, which is the same things as tartar, then we don't need to take our instruments and kind of scrape away because kids never like it. When we pick up anything additional right so if I can only pick up the polish and show them my cool toothbrush, then that's awesome right But our instruments for adult patients take away most of the stain. So is polishing necessary. Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no depends on the patient. If you have a lot of stain polishing is still probably necessary because even with our little instruments. We can't get everything with our instruments or it is just easier sometimes to take away most of the stain, but then we do still have to polish afterwards. And that polish will help to give you that smooth clean, I guess, minty fresh Feeling after the dentist without the polish your teeth won't feel as smooth because we haven't polished them if that if that makes any sense. So for those patients who tell me that they want to save money and that they don't want the polish. I tell them, you know what that's okay. We don't have to do it because it does save about 17 to $26 depending on how much of a polish we have to do and what type of polishing pace we need to use if it's heavy heavy stain, then we use a different type right So 17 to $26 a patient can save by not having their teeth polished. And if that's the case, then I don't have to. But sometimes I have said After I cleaned their teeth. I might say there is still some stain left. I would be able to get it off with the polish because it just kind of covers a wider surface area. I could be spending the next half an hour cleaning the same tooth with my instrument. I prefer to polish And get that off for you. But if you don't want me to polish. I don't have to. But our time is up today and there's still a little bit of stain left. So sometimes I do say that. But then for other patients, I might say you have really nice teeth. There's no plaque. There's hardly any Tartar, you don't drink coffee wine. So there's no stain on there. I actually don't have to polish. So if you want to save 17 to $26 I don't have to. But after I clean the teeth. If you're saying, you know what my teeth don't feel quite as smooth. Can you polish I can so keep polishing. Yes, is cosmetic. We don't have to do it. But sometimes I like to do it because I want to get all of that stain off if your stain is a little bit trickier. So I hope this helps. If you guys have any questions, please let me know. And I'll see you in the next one.