Did you know that your teeth are growing stones?

Many people actually have dental calculus, but patients often ignore it. Let's find out what dental calculus is.

What is dental plaque?

Dental tartar, commonly known as "tooth rust", is a mineralized or mineralizing plaque and soft scale deposited on the surface of teeth or restorations. It is gradually deposited by inorganic salts such as calcium salts in saliva or gingival sulcus fluid and is difficult to remove after it is formed. Dental tartar has a certain degree of damage to the gums and is one of the main causes of gingivitis and bad breath. So how should we remove dental tartar?

Tartar is a foreign body that adheres to the teeth, such as rust in a kettle, so it is also commonly known as tooth rust. The bacteria in the human mouth are numerous and complex. The tooth surface often has dental plaque formed by the adherent deposits of bacteria and their products. It is very sticky and cannot be removed by general cleaning measures such as gargling and rinsing. If dental plaque remains on the tooth surface for a long time, necrotic tissue cells, white blood cells, mucins in saliva, proteins, etc. will gradually adhere to it to form yellow or grayish white soft scale. As calcium salts in saliva and serum gradually deposit in it, the soft scale will calcify and harden to become tartar. Therefore, tartar is composed of inorganic substances (calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, calcium carbonate, etc.) and organic substances (protein, fat, shed epithelial cells, white blood cells, microorganisms, food residues).

Tartar is located on the surface of the cervical part of the tooth. The tartar above the gum line is supragingival tartar, and the tartar below the gum line is subgingival tartar. Suragingival tartar is often yellow or grayish white, and may also turn dark due to smoking or coloring by food pigments. Tartar is easily deposited on the tooth surface opposite to the opening of the salivary gland duct, such as the lingual surface (inside) of the lower front teeth and the buccal surface (outside) of the upper back teeth. In addition, tartar is also deposited on the tooth surface that has lost its chewing function, such as the jaw surface of the non-functional side of the teeth of the misaligned teeth and those who have the habit of unilateral chewing.

Since tartar is the best place for dental plaque to stay, it can easily absorb more bacterial toxins. The local long-term stimulation of these bacteria and their toxins and tartar can cause inflammation of the gums, edema and congestion of the gum tissue, erosion of the gum margin, and easy bleeding of the gums. The gums bleed when the patient eats, even when talking or sucking. In severe cases, the mouth is full of bloodshot when getting up in the morning.

If the tartar can be removed in time, gingivitis will gradually improve or heal. If the patient does not receive timely treatment, gingivitis will continue to develop, causing pus in the periodontal tissue, bad breath, alveolar bone destruction and absorption, gingival atrophy, exposed tooth roots, loose teeth, and periodontitis. Therefore, the presence of tartar is very harmful.