The Bane of Burnished Calculus

By Linda Brookman, RDH, BSDH, MSHS, Donna Smith, BSDH, MSEd, RDHAP

One of the more challenging aspects of closed periodontal therapy is complete removal of subgingival calculus. According to Carranza, the composition of subgingival calculus is 70% to 90% inorganic components that originate from the plasma.¹ Two-thirds of the inorganic components are crystalline in structure. Subgingival deposits attach to the root surfaces in different ways and may affect the ease or difficulty encountered when trying to remove the deposit. Subgingival calculus may mechanically lock into root surface irregularities or it may attach to unaltered cementum surfaces.¹

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