Dental Tartar
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Dental tartar before and after its removal. This case worked by a Slovenian dentist, Dr Zobozdravstvo Gros. |
Introduction:
Nearly 70% of adults have dental tartar, also
called calculus. Dental calculus is a hard, calcified deposit of food debris
that form and coat your teeth and gums. If dental plaque is not cleaned on a
regular times, such as through teeth brushing and flossing, it becomes hard
within 1 to 3 days and becomes tartar. The tartar can make it difficult to
brush and floss properly, leading to teeth cavitation, diseases of gums, bad
odor of breath and may cause bone loosing around teeth then teeth loss. Because
tartar is strongly adhered to the tooth surfaces, it can only be removed only
by dentists.
Causes of tartar (Calculus) formation:
Dental tartar always forms when you neglect teeth
brushing and flossing and may also forms when you brush your teeth by incorrect
way. And this as a result of accumulation of food debris which later form
dental plaque that hardens later and forms dental calculus.
And these are the risk factors which play a major role in formation of dental tartar:
- Using of certain drugs.
- Diabetic patient is more liable to this dental disease.
- Hormonal changes especially at females.
- Unhealthy diet.
- Smoking.
- Bad oral hygiene.
- Inadequate dental care.
- Hereditary factors.
- Combinations of risk factors we mentioned above.
Tartar (Calculus) Prevention:
There are a lot of ways which help you to prevent this disease:
- Brush your teeth twice daily at least 2 minutes in each time with a tooth Paste containing fluoride.
- Cleaning the interdental space by tooth floss 1 time before bedtime to eliminate the interdental food debris.
- Using of tooth paste which contain fluoride and triclosan which attacks the bacteria in dental plaque.
- Limit drinks and snacks which contain sugars. As it give a very good environment for plaque formation then dental tartar.
- Visit your dentist regularly for checkups and know habits and strategies which help in prevention of tartar formation.
Tartar Removal:
Every patient who have a history of dental calculus should go to dental clinic every 6 months to check the existence of dental calculus again.
And if there is a dental calculus, dentist clean your teeth and remove the calculus, stains and any food debris around your gums and between your teeth.
At scaling and root planing procedures, dentist uses ultrasonic device and manual instruments which called scaler curette to remove the calculus from above and below the gingiva reaching to the deepest part of pocket which formed as a result of existence of calculus between gingiva and teeth.
After procedure of scaling and root planing the root surfaces become smooth and your gingiva reattach again to your teeth.
Summary:
To summarize, you can watch this video for Dr. Pardinas Lopez: