What makes tartar so stubborn?

You brush twice a day, your flost and ragert on it. Yet it always pops up: tartar. Those hard edges, white or darker, for example along your lower teeth. The dentist or dental hygienist removes it with an ultrasonic device, a hook or both. Not pleasant, not even for the wallet. And six months later it has to be done again. What about that?

The forerunner of tartar is plaque, says Dagmar Else Slot, professor of prevention in oral care at the University of Amsterdam, and also still active as a dental hygienist. Dental plaque is a thin, invisible, sticky layer of 'biofilm' from mouth bacteria and food residues. « If you brush well every day, even with a toothpick or bracket Tússen the teeth and molars, you remove that plaque. Tart stone only occurs where the plaque stays in too long. »

After about 24 hours, plaque starts to harden. In the end, minerals get out of your saliva, especially calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate. « Your dental plaque hardened and calculated, and then we call it the tartar, » says Slot. « It looks a bit like the boiler stone in your kettle or flute kettle, and on the limestone crands in your shower head. »

And then? « You don't get that tartar away, » says Slot. « You have to have it removed by a professional. If the tartar is still above the gums, then a prevention assistant can do that. If it is deep under the gums, the dental hygienist must be involved. » In the latter case, there is often also a serious gum disease, she notes. This can lead to tooth decay and the loss of the tooth or molar.

Keep well clean

It is better to prevent the development of tartar, Slot emphasizes. By keeping your teeth clean every day, so. « In fact, everyone should regularly receive personal instruction and adjustment, » she says. « Every teeth are different. Every tooth and molar is under a different angle in your mouth. How should you put the brush on the brush in your teeth? What teeth and molars are a special point of attention in your teeth? »

For many people, the teeth are very close together, and a little crooked, so that you do not get well in certain places. Other people have a thread of an orthodontic treatment behind the teeth: all 'adhesive factors'. « But there is always a suitable tool for that, such as small brushes, » says Slot.

Some people don't have a hereditary predisposition for tartar, so a greater chance of getting it? « Yes, there are minimal genetically certain components, for example how much saliva you produce and how much calcium is in it. But that is never the excuse. No tartar has to arise if you remove the dental plaque well enough. » She emphasizes very strictly and certainly: « People who have tartar somewhere, they just don't clean their teeth well enough. »

Her message is also important for the elderly, and for people who use certain medication, including antidepressants: they often have a somewhat drier mouth, which makes the plaque harden faster. In addition to good oral hygiene, the motto is: drinking water regularly. « And of course that actually applies to everyone. »

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