Polishing & Airflow

What Are Polishing and Airflow?

Polishing and Airflow are the two ways of removing surface stain and soft deposits from teeth once the hard calculus has been taken off. They are the finishing stage of a hygiene appointment, and they are what makes the difference you actually see in the mirror.

Polishing uses a rotating rubber cup and a mildly abrasive paste. Airflow directs a controlled jet of warm water, air and fine powder at the tooth, lifting stain and biofilm without instrument contact. Neither whitens the tooth: both restore the natural colour by removing what is sitting on top of it.

The Difference

In practice they are complementary rather than alternatives: Airflow reaches what a cup cannot, and a final polish leaves the smooth surfaces glossy so that plaque takes longer to re-establish.

Which Stains Come Off?

Extrinsic stain - the colour that sits on the surface - comes off well: coffee, tea, red wine, tobacco, and the dark stain from chlorhexidine mouthwash or iron supplements. Many patients who book whitening find that this alone gives them what they wanted.

What does not come off is intrinsic colour: the natural shade of your dentine, darkening with age, tetracycline banding or a tooth that has darkened after trauma. Those need whitening or, in some cases, restorative treatment - and no amount of polishing changes them. A clinic that promises "whitening by cleaning" is describing stain removal.

How It Is Done

1. Examination of teeth and gums, with pocket depths noted. Polishing an inflamed mouth without treating the inflammation misses the point of the appointment.
2. Scaling first, where calculus is present. Polishing does not remove hardened deposits and is never a substitute for a proper cleaning.
3. Airflow over the surfaces where stain and biofilm sit, including between the teeth and around any appliances.
4. Polishing with a fine paste for the final gloss.
5. Fluoride varnish, where sensitivity or decay risk warrants it.

Does It Damage Enamel?

Not when it is done properly and at sensible intervals. Polishing paste is mildly abrasive by design - that is how it removes stain - and the loss per appointment is measured in fractions of a micron. The concern is not the twice-yearly appointment; it is polishing every surface at every visit as a routine ritual regardless of whether there is stain, which is why current practice is selective polishing: only where stain actually is.

Airflow with fine glycine or erythritol powders is gentler still and is safe around exposed root surfaces, implants and restorations. Older sodium bicarbonate powders are more abrasive and are reserved for enamel above the gum.

Does It Hurt?

Usually not. Airflow feels like a cool spray and the sound is the most noticeable part. Patients with exposed root surfaces or existing sensitivity may find it uncomfortable, in which case the powder, the pressure and the angle are adjusted, or the area is treated with paste instead. Say so rather than enduring it.

Who Should Avoid It?

Airflow is not suitable where there is active infection or severely inflamed gum tissue that has not yet been treated, and there are specific cautions: patients on a salt-restricted diet with sodium bicarbonate powder, patients with severe respiratory conditions such as poorly controlled asthma or COPD, and patients with certain acute infections. Anyone with a respiratory condition should mention it before treatment; alternative powders and techniques are available.

Afterwards

• Avoid staining foods and drinks for the first few hours - the surface picks up colour readily immediately after treatment. Coffee, tea, red wine, curry and tobacco are the usual culprits.
• Sensitivity to cold for a day or two is common and settles; a desensitising toothpaste helps.
• Resume normal brushing straight away.
• If fluoride varnish was applied, do not brush until the next morning.

How Often?

Alongside your routine cleaning, so every six months for most people and every three to four months for smokers, heavy coffee or tea drinkers, orthodontic patients and anyone on periodontal maintenance. It is not something to have more frequently than that just for appearance - stain returns because of habits, and treating the habit is more effective than repeating the appointment.

Around Orthodontics and Implants

This is where Airflow earns its place. Cleaning around fixed braces is genuinely difficult, and the white decalcification marks that appear around brackets are permanent - Airflow removes the biofilm from around and between brackets in a way that instruments and brushes cannot. Around implants, fine-powder Airflow is used in maintenance appointments because it removes biofilm from the implant surface without scratching it, and a scratched implant surface accumulates plaque faster.

During a Visit to Kusadasi

One appointment, no follow-up needed, and you can fly the same day. It is also a sensible first appointment before any aesthetic treatment: shade matching for veneers, crowns or whitening should be done on clean teeth, because matching a ceramic shade to a stained tooth produces a restoration that looks wrong once the stain is removed.

Why We Do Not Publish Prices

Because this is normally part of a hygiene appointment rather than a separate purchase, and because how much work is involved depends on how much stain and calculus there is. What we will not do is present stain removal as whitening. After the examination you receive a written plan.

Polishing and Airflow in Kusadasi

Our clinic is in Cumhuriyet Mahallesi in Kusadasi, with five treatment units. Your examination is carried out by Tugce Arslan, and polishing is done selectively where there is stain rather than reflexively over every surface.

The information on this page is general and does not replace a clinical examination. Whether polishing or Airflow is appropriate can only be decided after examination.