JUST A CLEANING

No, not really. Seeing your hygienist at least every 6 months gives that health professional the opportunity to catch something happening in your mouth before it gets real serious. Case in point, I have a cousin who didn't value a dental appointment and pretty much avoided seeing me throughout my entire career.

Well, one day he noticed something in his mouth region that was serious enough that he visited his physician. Diagnosis - Stage 4 jaw cancer which required the surgical removal of his jaw. Who knows what might have happened if we had the opportunity to examine him years earlier.

Moral of the story is that is not "just a cleaning"