What is dental plaque?
Dental plaque is also generally referred to as plaque. It is a mixture of several different proportions. These dental plaques are mainly composed of saliva (protein), food residues (carbohydrates), bacteria and their metabolic end products.
The protein part of the plaque is formed by cell fragments of the oral mucosa and deposits of saliva protein. This easily rinsed dental plaque component itself is usually not harmful to the tooth substance or the periodontium. However, since plaque is largely made up of bacteria, it attacks the hard tooth substance enormously in the long term, promotes the development of caries, inflammation of the gums (gingivitis) and inflammatory processes of the periodontium (periodontitis).In addition, the soft plaque changes over time to solid concrements (tartar), which can lead to the formation of deep gum pockets and, in the worst case, attack the jawbone. In many cases, the result is a severe bone recession and the loss of actually perfectly healthy teeth.
Remove visible plaque
To effectively care for your teeth and keep them healthy, plaque must be removed regularly. Simply brushing your teeth is not enough to remove plaque completely, because the bristles of a toothbrush cannot normally reach the spaces between the teeth. Often plaque deposits remain in hard-to-reach areas, which then lead to the development of caries.
Misaligned teeth and/or an attacked, roughened tooth surface aggravates this problem. For this reason it is recommended to use interdental brushes or dental floss at least once a day. The use of antibacterial mouth rinse also reduces the formation of plaque.
Although plaque is easily felt when the tongue is brushed over individual teeth (teeth covered with plaque feel increasingly rough, dull and uneven), it is not always visible to the naked eye. To make plaque visible, various preparations (in tablet form or as solutions) can be used. The ingredients of these preparations react with different components of plaque and thus take on a specific coloration. Plaque can thus be easily recognized as such and removed more effectively.
