Walking into a dental cleaning appointment can feel like a mystery if you have never paused to think about what actually happens once you sit back in that chair. Most people know the basics: a hygienist pokes around your mouth, there is some scraping, maybe a bit of polishing, and then you are free to go. But a routine dental cleaning is actually a fairly detailed process with several distinct steps, each one designed to protect your teeth and gums in a different way. Understanding what happens at each stage…