What is the difference between a regular clean and a deep clean?

A regular scale and clean removes plaque and hardened deposits from the tooth surfaces above and just below the gumline. A deep clean, properly called root planing or root surface debridement, cleans the root surfaces further below the gumline inside pockets that have formed where the gum has detached from the tooth. The second is treatment for a diagnosed condition rather than routine maintenance.

Why was I told I need a deep clean when I have always just had a clean?

Usually because measurements taken around your teeth have changed. Gum attaches to teeth at a shallow depth, and when disease progresses that attachment is lost and deeper pockets form. Once pockets pass a certain depth, an ordinary clean cannot reach the bottom of them. The recommendation reflects a measurement, not an upsell, and you are entitled to ask what your numbers were.

What is periodontal charting?

A small calibrated probe is used to measure the depth of the space between gum and tooth at several points around each tooth. Healthy sites usually measure around one to three millimetres. Deeper readings, bleeding on probing and gum recession are recorded, and together they show whether disease is present and how far it has progressed.

Does a deep clean hurt?

It is usually done with local anaesthetic, so the appointment itself is comfortable. Afterwards the teeth can feel sensitive for a period, particularly to cold, and the gums may be tender for a few days. Sensitivity often settles as the gums firm up and shrink slightly against the cleaned root surface.

Why do my teeth look longer afterwards?

Because inflamed gum tissue is swollen. When the inflammation resolves, the gum shrinks back to where the underlying bone level actually is. The recession was already there, masked by swelling. It can be an unwelcome surprise, which is why it is better mentioned beforehand than discovered afterwards.

Is gum disease reversible?

Gingivitis, the early inflammatory stage, is generally reversible with thorough cleaning and good home care. Periodontitis, where bone support has been lost, is not reversible in the sense of regrowing what has gone. It can be stabilised and managed so further loss is slowed or halted, which is the aim of treatment and ongoing maintenance.

How many appointments does it take?

It depends how much of the mouth is affected. Treatment is often split into sections so each area can be anaesthetised and cleaned properly, followed by a review appointment several weeks later to re-measure and see how the tissues have responded. Some people then move to a more frequent maintenance interval.

Will my health fund cover it?

Periodontal treatment usually falls under general or major dental depending on the item numbers and the policy, and annual limits apply. Because treatment is often staged across appointments, benefits may be claimed across more than one visit. Check the specific items with your fund. We can tell you the item numbers before you call.

Deep Clean vs Regular Clean: What Changed and Why

Last updated: August 2026

Being told you need a deep clean when you have had ordinary cleans for years tends to land badly. It sounds like the same appointment with a bigger price on it.

It is a different appointment treating a different problem, and the reason it was recommended will be sitting in a set of measurements taken around your teeth. Those numbers are yours and you can ask to see them.

What a Regular Clean Does

A scale and clean removes plaque and calculus, the hardened deposit that forms when plaque is left long enough to mineralise. It works on the tooth surfaces you can see and a short distance below the gumline.

This is maintenance. It suits a mouth where the gums are attached to the teeth at a normal, shallow depth and the supporting bone is intact. For most people at most stages of life, it is all that is needed alongside decent brushing and cleaning between the teeth.

What Changes When Gum Disease Progresses

Gum sits against a tooth like a cuff, attached at a shallow depth. Persistent inflammation breaks down that attachment. The cuff detaches further down the root and a pocket forms. Bacteria collect inside the pocket, where a toothbrush cannot reach, and the process continues.

If it continues far enough, the bone supporting the tooth begins to be lost. That stage is periodontitis rather than gingivitis, and the distinction matters: gingivitis is generally reversible, whereas lost bone does not grow back. Treatment aims to stop further loss and stabilise what remains.

We cover the earlier stage in what is gingivitis, and prevention in the importance of healthy gums. The condition itself is on our gum disease page.

The Measurements Behind the Recommendation

Periodontal charting is how this gets assessed. A calibrated probe measures the depth of the space between gum and tooth at several points around every tooth, and the readings are recorded.

One to three millimetres is typically healthy and cleanable at home
Four millimetres and beyond becomes difficult for a brush to reach the base of
Bleeding on probing is recorded alongside depth, because a shallow pocket that bleeds is still inflamed
Recession is measured too, since a tooth can have shallow pockets and still have lost support

A deep clean gets recommended when pockets are deep enough that instruments need to work below where a routine clean stops. If nobody has explained your readings to you, ask. A practice that charts properly will have them recorded and can show you which teeth are affected.

What the Appointment Involves

Root planing cleans the root surfaces inside the pockets and smooths them so tissue can reattach where possible.

Because the work happens below the gumline, it is usually done with local anaesthetic, and often split into sections so each area gets proper attention rather than the whole mouth being rushed in one sitting. A review several weeks later re-measures the same sites to see how the tissues have responded. That review is the part that tells you whether the treatment worked, so it is not an optional add-on.

What to Expect Afterwards

Two things surprise people, and both are easier to hear beforehand.

Sensitivity. Cleaned root surfaces are often sensitive to cold for a while. It usually settles. A sensitive toothpaste used consistently helps, and our sensitive teeth page covers the causes.

Teeth looking longer. Inflamed gum is swollen gum. When inflammation resolves, the tissue shrinks back to where the bone level actually is. The recession was already present, hidden by swelling. This is the treatment working rather than causing damage, but discovering it without warning is unpleasant.

Afterwards Is the Part That Decides the Outcome

Periodontitis is a managed condition rather than a cured one. Pockets that have been cleaned can recolonise, and the same risk factors that produced the problem are usually still present.

What tends to determine how things go from here:

Cleaning between the teeth daily. Brushing alone does not reach the surfaces where this disease progresses. Interdental brushes sized to your gaps generally work better than floss where pockets exist.
Maintenance intervals. Many people move to three or four monthly cleans rather than six monthly, at least for a period.
Smoking. It affects both the disease and how well tissues respond to treatment.
Diabetes. The relationship runs in both directions, so gum health and blood glucose control affect each other.

The Practical Problem With Three-Monthly Maintenance

Shorter recall intervals are the part of this that quietly fails, and usually for logistical reasons rather than clinical ones. Four appointments a year instead of two is harder to sustain if every one of them means taking time off work.

We are open six days including Saturdays, which is the main reason maintenance intervals hold here. Croydon station is a short walk away on the Lilydale line, between Ringwood East and Mooroolbark, so an appointment does not require a car if you are coming from along the corridor.

Worth stating plainly alongside that: gum disease is usually painless until it is advanced. Someone who has not been examined in several years and feels nothing at all can still have moderate bone loss, and with roughly 6,516 Croydon residents in the 45 to 64 band and more than one in ten over 75, a lot of local mouths fit that description. Pain is a poor screening tool for this particular condition.

If You Have Been Given This Recommendation

Ask what your pocket depths were, which teeth are involved and what the plan is for reviewing them afterwards. Those three answers tell you whether the recommendation is grounded in measurement.

Call (03) 9725 8040 or book online. We are on Wicklow Ave, close to Croydon station on the Lilydale line, and open Saturdays if weekday maintenance visits are hard to fit in. Treatment details are on our deep cleaning page, and routine maintenance on our check-ups and cleans page.

This article is general information, not personal dental advice. Whether periodontal treatment is appropriate depends on examination and charting of your individual case. Health fund benefits vary by policy and are determined by your fund.

Why You Were Told You Need a Deep Clean, and How It Differs From a Regular One