She is also a clinical instructor at University of Pacific School of Dentistry and an editor for Dentistry On-Line. The fact that your dentist did not wear gloves while taking radiographs or cleaning your teeth seems very unusual to me. This rule protects the patient and dentist from various transmissible diseases. A thorough routine dental cleaning should remove plaque from all tooth surfaces. Usually, scaling instruments and prophy paste are used during the procedure.
Scalers come in many different shapes and sizes.
Two common scalers used during dental cleanings include the universal scaler and the sickle scaler. The universal scaler works well for cleaning all tooth surfaces. The sickle scaler removes tartar between the anterior teeth. There are some exceptions to these basic steps. Children do not generally require the use of scalers for dental cleanings unless tartar buildup is present.