Polishing Protocol

By Sharon L. Mossman, RDH, EdD

Dental hygienists have an array of products from which to choose when performing extrinsic stain removal. There are various factors to consider when selecting the correct polishing and/or cleaning agent for each patient. Identifying the types of stain and affected tooth structures is important.¹ Dental practices may offer a limited choice of polishing pastes due to clinician preference or cost. Despite this limitation, selecting the appropriate polishing material must be case specific. Abrasive ingredients contained in prophylaxis pastes can remove sound tooth structure. Thus, the abrasiveness of the selected polishing paste needs to be carefully evaluated to ensure that it effectively removes stain without harming tooth structure.²

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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