Final answer:
Root planing is the process used for polishing root surfaces that have been exposed during periodontal surgery, aiming to remove toxins and encourage gum reattachment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Root planing refers to polishing root surfaces that have been exposed during periodontal surgery. After periodontal treatment, it is essential to smooth the root surfaces of teeth to remove any remaining bacterial toxins, plaque, and calculus. This process helps to encourage reattachment of the gums to the teeth and reduce periodontal pocket depths. It is different from prophylaxis, which is a preventative treatment to clean teeth, air polishing, which uses air and abrasive to remove stains and soft deposits, and root debridement, which is the removal of diseased tissue from a root surface.