What Is Dental Plaque?
Dental plaque is a sticky, colorless film that forms on teeth. It makes teeth "feel fuzzy" to the tongue and is most noticeable when you haven't brushed your teeth recently.
Although dental plaque itself is colorless, it can make your teeth discolored because food particles can stick to the plaque on your teeth.
What Is Dental Plaque Made Of?
Dental plaque is considered a biofilm, or a community of microorganisms that sticks to a surface. These microorganisms include bacteria and fungi. Dental plaque is made of these microorganisms, food particles, and your saliva.
Although it’s normal for your mouth to produce dental plaque, it’s important to keep your teeth clean to prevent plaque from building up.
What Causes Dental Plaque?
Dental plaque develops when foods containing carbohydrates (sugars and starches), such as milk, soft drinks, raisins, bread, and candy are frequently left on your teeth. Bacteria that live in your mouth thrive on these foods. They break down the food particles in your mouth and produce plaque, an acidic film.
Dental plaque forms on your teeth but can also develop on your tooth roots, under your gums.
Dental Plaque vs. Tartar
A buildup of dental plaque is called tartar. Dental plaque is a film that forms on your teeth, but if it’s allowed to collect, it will harden into tartar.
You can remove dental plaque by brushing and flossing your teeth, but once it has become tartar, you need a dentist or hygienist to remove it during a dental cleaning. Tartar can form on your teeth both above and below your gum line. Tartar is also called dental calculus.
Dental Plaque Complications
The acid that dental plaque creates can attack the enamel on your teeth. Over time, it can destroy this enamel, causing tooth decay and cavities.
Excessive dental plaque can cause other complications as well. Research has found that bacteria and inflammation in your mouth could be linked to other problems, including heart disease and dementia, and may threaten your overall health.
Tartar development
If you don’t remove dental plaque from your teeth by brushing and flossing regularly, it will harden and become tartar, which you can’t remove on your own. Tartar sometimes makes yellow, brown, or black stains on your teeth, and it usually smells bad.
Tartar can also create small gaps in between your teeth and gums, where food particles and bacteria can get trapped.
Gingivitis and gum disease
Dental plaque buildup can lead to gum disease, and gingivitis is the earliest stage of gum disease. Dental plaque and bacteria cause infection, which can make your gums swollen and red. They may feel tender and bleed.
If your gums bleed easily when you brush your teeth, that might be a sign of gingivitis.
Over time, severe gum disease, also called periodontal disease, can develop. Gum tissue pulls away from the teeth, allowing the bacteria to destroy the underlying bone that supports your teeth.
If gingivitis goes untreated, it can lead to periodontitis, a more serious condition that involves bone loss around your teeth. It can also cause you to lose teeth.
Scientists have found links between periodontal disease and several other diseases and conditions. The reason for these links may be that the bacteria in your mouth can enter your bloodstream through your gums and cause problems in other areas of your body. Also, with periodontal disease, your gums are inflamed, and that inflammation can worsen inflammation elsewhere in your body.
These are some of the complications linked to gum disease:
Heart disease. Many studies have found that people with gum disease are more likely to have poor heart healthas well, including heart attacks. While studies have shown an association between heart disease and gum disease, that doesn’t mean that one causes the other.
Inflammation. Although inflammation is part of your body’s way of healing after an illness or injury, chronic inflammation sticks around and puts stress on your body. Chronic inflammation is common in people with gum disease and those with heart disease.
Diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are more likely to have gum disease. Why? Again, inflammation may be partly to blame. And people with diabetes are more likely to get infections, including gum disease. If your diabetes is not under control, you are at an even higher risk of gum disease.
Also, If you have diabetes, gum disease can make it more difficult to control your blood sugar, putting you at risk of complications.
Dementia. Gum disease has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, and it has been found to raise the risk of dementia later in life. One study found that a certain type of bacteria that causes gingivitis can travel from the mouth to the brain.
Researchers also have found that periodontal problems may be linked to mild cognitive impairment, such as memory problems that make your daily activities more difficult. In one study, people who had the worst gum disease scored the worst on memory tests and calculations.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is an autoimmune disease marked by inflammation and painful joints.
Gum disease may increase the risk of developing RA, and people with RA are more likely to have gum disease. One study found that people with RA had more missing teeth than people without RA.
Chronic inflammation is common with both conditions. Although scientists haven't found evidence that one condition causes the other, some research suggests that treating gum disease improves RA. One study found that people with a severe form of RA had less pain, swelling, and morning stiffness after their periodontal disease was treated.
Premature birth. Studies have found a link between periodontal disease in pregnant women and preterm birth, which sets up the baby for health risks.
Research on whether treating periodontal disease in pregnant women helps them carry their pregnancies to term has had mixed results. But one study found that in mothers with mild to moderate periodontal disease, treatment before 21 weeks may prevent preterm births. Another showed that improving gum health before or during pregnancy may reduce the odds of premature birth.
Tooth infections
When dental plaque causes tooth decay, it can destroy your tooth enamel and cause cavities. That can allow bacteria to get inside your teeth, causing a tooth infection. An infection can cause a painful toothache.
A further complication is a tooth abscess, which is a pocket of pus near the tooth that’s caused by an infection. One type, called a periapical tooth abscess, forms at the tip of your tooth’s root.
How to Remove Dental Plaque
Dental plaque is constantly forming on your teeth, but you can remove it as part of your daily routine when you brush and floss, as well as at your regular dental cleanings.
During dental cleaning, a dental hygienist can remove plaque with special dental tools. These tools can remove plaque that may be harder to reach when you brush and floss, such as between teeth and along your gums.
How to Prevent Dental Plaque
To prevent dental plaque from building up, brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss to clean between your teeth, and go to your dentist regularly for checkups and cleanings.
Here are some tips to help fight dental plaque:
Brushing
Use a soft-bristled toothbrush. Hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle and use gentle, circular strokes about a tooth wide. Brush every tooth surface, including the inside, outside, and chewing surfaces of each tooth. Don’t neglect the space where your gums and teeth meet.
Be sure to use a toothpaste that contains fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay. Brush for two full minutes. Don't forget to brush your tongue, too, to scrape away bacteria and freshen your breath.
Flossing
You should floss between your teeth at least once a day to remove food particles and bacteria. You can use:
- Dental floss
- Pre-threaded flossers
- Dental picks
- Small, straight brushes that fit between your teeth
- Water flossers
- Wooden plaque removers
Rinsing
Brushing and flossing are the most important things you can do to fight dental plaque, but rinses or mouthwashes can be helpful, too. An antibacterial mouth rinse can reduce bacteria that cause dental plaque to form.
Don’t use a rinse instead of brushing and flossing, though. It might be best to use a rinse at a time of day that’s separate from when you usually brush your teeth.
Regular checkups
See your dentist or oral hygienist every six months for a checkup and teeth cleaning.
Your dentist may recommend a dental sealant to help protect your teeth. A dental sealant is a thin, liquid coating that is painted on the chewing surfaces of your back teeth to shield them from bacteria and prevent decay and cavities.
Choosing the right foods
Eat a balanced diet and limit the number of between-meal snacks. If you need a snack, choose nutritious foods such as plain yogurt, cheese, fruit, and raw vegetables. Vegetables, such as celery, help remove food particles and help saliva neutralize plaque-causing acids.
Sugary, starchy, and acidic foods and beverages cause decay. Eat them sparingly. The worst offenders include:
- Starchy foods such as potato chips and breads
- Sticky candies that cling to your teeth
- Carbonated soft drinks
- Alcohol
When you do eat and drink these things, drink plenty of water afterward to wash away bits of food and keep your mouth moist. It’s a good idea to brush after you eat to prevent dental plaque from building up. If you aren’t near your toothbrush after a meal, you can chew sugarless gum. It helps remove food particles and gets your saliva flowing.
Takeaways
Everyone has dental plaque, but it’s important to prevent it from building up, through daily brushing and flossing and regular dental cleanings. When dental plaque builds up, it hardens and becomes tartar, which is harder to remove. Dental plaque and tartar can lead to gum disease, which is linked to several other health problems. Good oral hygiene can help you avoid cavities, gum disease, and other associated health problems.
Dental Plaque FAQs
Should I pick plaque off my teeth?
Dental plaque is a sticky film that forms on your teeth, and you should brush and floss your teeth to remove it. At a dental cleaning, your dentist or hygienist can remove dental plaque with special tools.
Can plaque break off teeth?
Dental plaque is more of a sticky film than a hard substance, so it doesn’t really break off. If plaque builds up, it can harden and become tartar, and pieces of tartar may break off if you brush too hard or eat certain foods.
Does toothpaste destroy plaque?
Toothpaste helps remove dental plaque, and fluoride in toothpaste helps prevent tooth decay by strengthening your tooth enamel.
Is plaque hard to remove?
Dental plaque continuously forms on your teeth, and you can help remove it and prevent its buildup by brushing and flossing your teeth regularly. At the dentist’s office, a dental hygienist can remove plaque with special tools.
Do dental plaque removal tools work?
Plaque removal tools, such as plaque scrapers or scalers, work but should only be used by a dentist or trained dental hygienist. They know how to use them correctly, without damaging your teeth. If you use one of these tools yourself, it’s easy to damage your tooth enamel, hurt your gums, or injure another part of your mouth.
Does calcified dental plaque cause bad breath?
Calcified, or hardened, dental plaque is called tartar, and it does cause bad breath.
