How Much Does Dental Cleaning Cost?

A routine dental cleaning is essential to gum health and overall health as well. During a dental cleaning, the dentist cleans deeper into the mouth and gums where a toothbrush, floss, and mouthwash can’t reach. The types of cleanings range from typical cleanings to deeper cleanings like scaling and root planing.

Typical Dental Cleaning

When it comes to a typical dental cleaning, the price can range from $75 to $200, depending on the dental office and local rates, as well as whether the person has an insurance provider. This procedure is usually done at least once a year and is usually covered once under insurance. A typical dental cleaning goes like:

  1. An examination of the teeth and gums by the Dental assistant
  2. The dental assistant would examine the mouth closely using special tools to get a better look.
  3. During the first dental cleaning of the year, the dental assistant would also use an X-Ray to get more information on what is going on inside the roots, cavities, or any infections or imperfections around the gums or the bone structure.
  4. The use of an X-Ray is usually covered once for this cleaning by insurance. If not, the average price of an X-Ray is about $100 to $300 or more.
  5. Scraping of plaque from between teeth and under the gums
  6. Using dental tools, both the Dentist and the Dental assistant would use special dental tools and floss to clear away plaque.
  7. Brushing and rinsing of the mouth
  8. The dentist will use a dental electric toothbrush and special fluoride toothpaste to clean the teeth in a professional manner. The mouth is then rinsed afterwards.

Dental Deep Cleaning

Deep cleaning, also known as scaling and root planing, ranges from $100 to $450 for a single quadrant, to an estimate of $500 to $4000 for a whole mouth deep clean. The price goes up depending on whether injections are needed, how deep the pocket is around the tooth, or the amount of time it’s been between dental visits, and the increased amount of work due to the excessive buildup. Since the procedure is more invasive on the gums, a numbing solution is used so that the patient doesn’t feel the pain during the procedure. The procedure for a deep cleaning looks like this:

  1. A similar examination of the teeth and gums to get a general idea of the amount of work that needs to be done and the amount of buildup in both visual aspects and on the X-rays.
  2. The process of full-mouth debridement (scaling and root planing) begins
  3. Scaling is utilized for the plaque buildup that gets trapped at least 3 millimeters under the gum line. It is scraped out with a special dental tool, and water is used to rinse away the plaque.
  4. Root planing is where the tooth is smoothed out of any rough spots.

It’s important to keep up to date with your gum and tooth health, so make the time to visit the dentist to get your annual dental cleaning. Be sure to provide insurance information, if possible, to cover most of the charges.

Related Article: What is Teeth Scaling?