As part of your dental visit to Talley Dental, a dental hygienist will give you a professional dental cleaning to remove plaque and tartar from between your teeth and around your gum line. A scaler (a hook-shaped scraping tool) and a small mirror are the typical tools used for this process. After removing the tartar, the hygienist will further clean your teeth with a high-powered brush, which may create a grinding noise at times but should not cause pain. This removes any tartar left over from the scaler and gives your teeth a deep cleaning. You may notice that the toothpaste used by your hygienist has a much grittier texture than the toothpaste you use at home. Those pieces of grit give teeth an excellent scrub but should only be used at Dr. Talley's office so that your enamel doesn’t get worn down from too much polishing. Flossing and rinsing come next to remove anything left over from the previous cleaning steps. You may be given a further rinse that contains fluoride as well.