[RNajarian]

The discussion of the dentist vs. the hygienist cleaning your teeth in this thread is an old topic.

I had a private practice for 15 years and now teach full time at a dental hygiene school. I can assure you, dentists leave school with AT LEAST the same proficiency of cleaning the teeth as the hygienists do. However, we are also equipped to diagnose and treat periodontal disease, as well as (legally) order x-rays and prescribe medications.

Many dentists enjoy providing quadrant scaling themselves and incorporate that as part of their practice. To generalize one provider is better at hand scaling (cleaning) than the other is unfair.

Consider the economics. If you block off one hour for quadrant (8 teeth) scaling, the UCR (Usual Customary Rate-fee) is $300. Depending on your zip code it could be more or less (Beverly Hills more, Inglewood less.) If you block off one hour for a crown the UCR is $1,200.

So often economics often decides who cleans your teeth. The doctor in a busy practice is more efficient if the hygienist cleans the teeth while the dentist does the high value production.

In fact, most dentists can do two crowns in the time it takes to properly clean one quadrant.

I’m sure our other resident dentists would agree.