Scaling/Thorough Cleaning - why no warm water?

[alwaysworried]

I need to ask why in god's name do the dentists/hygenists not use warm water rinses while trying to pick the scale and stuff off of the teeth? Using cold water is the stupidest thing. When we do dishes and try and scrape our baked on grease pots and pans we don't use cold water or else we would be there all day.

Warm water would soften things up and be more soothing than cool no? It would also move things along a bit faster. It just stands to reason and makes a lot more sense.

 

[Zzzdentist]

I'm not certain whether warm water would soften things up, but it certainly does make appointments more comfortable. There are water warmers that can be installed for dental operatories. The problem with water warmers is that they tend to encourage bioform development (bacterial goo) in the water line hoses or at least that was one reason I've heard that they are frowned upon.

I don't know whether they can plumb a hot/cold water adjustable line with filter in, but that's definitely something that would make the dental visit more comfortable for sure. I think that controlling the water temperature might be a little tricky though.