If you haven't had your teeth cleaned in a long time or have had a lot of problems with your teeth, you may have to get a procedure called scaling and root planing, which involves cleaning the root surfaces of your teeth, which is more expensive than a routine visit.
The key background to this question is the nature of sound waves and light waves. Youâre right in that sound waves are a vibration traveling through an object, including condensed things like solids and liquids. In solids, those waves can consist of either alternating compressed and stretched regions, or regions wiggling sideways, compared to the direction the wave is traveling.
Sound waves are longitudinal waves that require a medium in which to travel. The medium consists of particles that oscillate within a certain amplitude. The amplitude of a sound wave is a reflection of how much energy is carried, which contributes to the intensity of the sound. Intensity is measured in decibels and is perceived as sound volume. Thus, the volume is proportional to the amplitude of the sound wave. The frequency of a sound wave is perceived as pitch. Humans can detect pitches within the acoustic range of 20 to 20,000 Hz, but we can't detect ultrasound or infrasound.