Many of you have probably heard of “calculus”, “gingivitis” and “periodontitis”. But do you know what they really mean? This tooth has started to have calculus and is causing gingivitis. Tartar is a hard lump of foreign matter attached to the tooth, like water rust in a kettle, so it is also commonly called rust. Tartar is made up of inorganic materials (calcium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, calcium carbonate, etc.) and organic materials (proteins, fats, shed epithelial cells, white blood cells, microorganisms, food debris). There are many kinds of bacteria in human oral cavity and it is complicated. There is often plaque formed by the adherent deposits of bacteria and their products on the tooth surface, which is very sticky and cannot be removed by general cleaning measures such as rinsing and rinsing. With the gradual deposition of calcium salts in saliva and serum, the soft tartar calcifies and hardens to become tartar. Tartar is located on the cervical surface of the teeth, above the gingival margin is supragingival tartar and below the gingival margin is subgingival tartar. Supragingival tartar is often yellow or off-white in color, but can also become darker due to smoking or coloring by food pigments. Tartar tends to be deposited on the surfaces of the teeth opposite the openings of the salivary gland ducts, such as the lingual (inner) surface of the lower anterior teeth and the buccal (outer) surface of the upper posterior teeth. In addition, tartar is also deposited on the surfaces of teeth that have lost their chewing function, such as misaligned teeth and the non-functional side of the jaw surface of teeth of people with unilateral chewing habits. Since tartar is the best site for plaque to rest, tartar itself tends to attract more bacterial toxins. The long-term local stimulation of these bacteria and their toxins and tartar can cause inflammation of the gums, with edema and congestion of the gum tissue, and erosion and easy bleeding of the gum margin. The patient’s gums bleed when eating, or even when speaking or sucking, and in severe cases, the mouth is covered with blood when waking up in the morning. If the tartar is removed in time, the gingivitis will gradually improve or heal. If the patient does not receive timely treatment, the gingivitis will continue to develop, resulting in pus overflowing from the periodontal tissues, bad breath, destruction and resorption of the alveolar bone, gum atrophy, root exposure, loose teeth, and the development of periodontitis. As shown below: Periodontitis then progresses further, bacteria infect the pulp tissue and periapical tissue through deep periodontal pockets and apical foramina, causing retrograde pulpitis and periapical inflammation, and further development of retrograde pulp and periapical abscess. Pulp necrosis, extensive bone resorption, loose and fallen teeth! Therefore, tartar is very harmful to teeth. So how to prevent the formation of tartar? As we have said before, the formation of tartar is due to the attachment of plaque on the tooth surface, so to prevent the formation of tartar, we should do the following: 1. The easiest and most effective way to remove the plaque on the tooth surface is to brush and floss carefully. Some information shows that high-quality brushing and flossing can remove more than 90% of the plaque and soft tartar on the teeth; 2, attention should be paid to adjusting the diet structure, eat less soft and sticky food, especially children eat less food with high sugar content, or clean teeth in time after eating. Eat more fibrous foods, such as corn and vegetables, etc. To increase the self-cleaning effect of the teeth and reduce the formation of plaque; 3, correction of dental misalignment, crowded teeth, misalignment, eliminate the bad habit of unilateral chewing, so that all the teeth can play their chewing function; 4, should go to the hospital every six months to a year to check the dental department, if found tartar formation, timely removal by the doctor (commonly known as scaling, medically known as cleaning). In addition, some people may have symptoms of allergy to cold, hot, sour and sweet after “scaling”, because the tartar stimulation makes the gums shrink and some roots are exposed. When the tartar is removed, the root surface is exposed and the allergy appears. In general, no special treatment is needed for this condition. If you avoid eating cold, hot, sour, sweet, spicy and other stimulating foods, the allergic symptoms will be gradually eliminated after a period of time. If the allergic symptoms are more serious, you can ask your doctor for desensitization treatment.