Even if you take good care of your teeth, you still have bacteria in your mouth that mixes with sugary or starchy food when you eat. As a result, a sticky film called dental plaque is formed, coating your teeth, gums, and dental restorations. Plaque houses acid-forming bacteria that can damage tooth enamel and cause cavities. If you fail to remove plaque regularly, it hardens to become tartar. Tartar is very rough and porous, can only be removed with special dental tools, and can lead to gum recession and gum disease, if left untreated.
Although everyone develops plaque, you are more at risk if you:
There is no way to completely avoid plaque, but you can prevent it from accumulating by brushing and flossing your teeth regularly.
The best way to prevent tartar is by taking good care of your oral health. You can do this by:
Tartar buildup bonds strongly to tooth enamel and must be removed by a dental professional. This can be done with a professional cleaning, debridement, or scaling and root planing.
If you do not have dense deposits and your teeth have not been affected by bone loss or periodontal disease, getting a regular dental cleaning every six months is recommended by the American Dental Association. At your regular dental checkup and cleaning, your dentist or dental hygienist will use a scaler to remove any dental plaque, tartar, and stains around your gums and between your teeth.
A debridement is recommended for people who have dense calculus on their teeth that interferes with the dentist's ability to perform a comprehensive oral evaluation. Ultrasonic instruments and hand tools are used to fracture tartar and remove it.
If you have pockets between your teeth and gums, or periodontal (gum) disease you may need scaling and root planing, which is a deep cleaning. This procedure is performed using local anesthesia, and plaque and tartar are removed above and below the gumline, all the way down to the bottom of the pocket. Afterwards, the teeth roots are smoothed out to help your gums reattach to your teeth.
It's important to be proactive and take care of your teeth before it comes a bigger, more costly problem in the future.
Do you have dental tartar? Contact us at (925) 705-7093 or request an appointment online.