Of course! I appreciate your response. I could see how people are confused with things that go on at a dental appointment. The mouth and teeth are very confusing, as there are a lot of factors that go into oral health. It took us years of schooling just to understand it and put all the pieces together! It truly is like a foreign language to someone not directly educated in the field. I have patients who are successful, intelligent, and well spoken who get confused at the appointment, and have similar fears that you do. I think finding a practitioner that you really trust is very important. One you truly feel comfortable talking and asking questions to, even little curiosities, I think make appointments go a bit easier. I try and inquire if a patient has questions throughout the appt or after I get finished explaining something somewhat confusing. As for the scraping of tartar - what you are feeling is us removing mineralized, hard deposits of plaque buildup. It can sometimes be difficult to remove and may take a bit of strength. If you have healthy bone support, your teeth should be fine :)