On 17/01/2019 01:39, alan_m wrote:
On 16/01/2019 21:35, newshound wrote:

It would be asking too much for Which to descend to that level of
technical detail. But yes, I suppose that could be it. Our local
dental practice now has both a "mechanical" and an "ultrasonic" hygenist.

That is for cleaning teeth in a different way to brushing. It is often
to remove material that brushing alone cannot do.

Brushing and flossing can be regarded as a preventative process but with
a hygienist the work undertaken is often remedial such as tartar removal.

I used to go to a dentist where you paid £25 for the hygienist [1] to
"scale and polish" before going onto the (NHS) dentist for a check-up.
Rip-off as normally the dentist would do the same job while checking
your teeth for cavities. In fact, I would have thought the dentist would
be more likely to notice problems while scaling rather than just looking.

(This was in the late 80s when they "drilled and filled" anything brown
on your teeth. And insisted on a local anaesthetic injection that was
more painful than the drilling.)

[1] Should be classed with the telephone sanitisers.

--
Max Demian