Stones on the teeth: causes and effects

Teeth are the structures that help us break down food. Beautiful teeth are an indicator of health and proper lifestyle. But sometimes our teeth still get sick. The most common is tartar.

Tartar is dental plaque that hardens and darkens over time. The composition of tartar includes: food left between the teeth after eating, various microorganisms, phosphates and light carbohydrates.

Causes

Tartar appears for many reasons, but the main one is still poor oral hygiene. After each meal, food remains accumulate on the teeth, or rather, at its neck and root. They are used by bacteria for nutrition and further life. Bacteria use foods that contain easily digestible carbohydrates, which are found, for example, in flour and sweet products. From this we can assume that this is why dentists recommend eating less sweet and starchy foods, arguing that this spoils the teeth.

Reasons for the formation of tartar:

• Chewing food with only one side, perhaps many do not notice this, but it is true;
• Using one toothbrush for a long time, after three months the toothbrush becomes a breeding ground for bacteria that cannot be removed even with boiling water;
• Incorrect or poor brushing of teeth;
• Toothpaste does not remove plaque well;
• Eating a large amount of flour and sweet foods;
• Smoking, but this does not mean that if you tried to smoke 2 or 3 times, then you may develop tartar, here we are talking about constant smoking, even abusing it;
• Malocclusion.

Symptoms

The first symptom of this disease is itchy and bleeding gums . Itching can be so severe that small ulcers can appear on the surface of the gums, which as a result begin to bleed, hence bleeding gums.

What is yours?

Tartar is divided into two types: subgingival and supragingival.

The supragingival tartar is immediately visible, for this you just need to look into the oral cavity, the teeth will have a darker color.

Subgingival - it is impossible to see, it is localized in periodontal pockets and is found by chance, during operations in the oral cavity.

Is it possible to get rid of tartar?

There is a fairly simple way to determine if you have tartar. To do this, you need to take a cotton pad moistened with iodine and wipe your teeth. If there is tartar, it will become dark and easily visible.

Previously, tartar was treated in one way, they simply pulled out the tooth on which it was located. Now modern dentistry offers special cleaning of teeth. Remove it with ultrasound. The device is called Scaler. It consists of a housing, inside of which there is a motor, with the help of which the nozzle on the ultrasonic tip oscillates with a frequency of 100 million movements. Under the action of vibration, tartar is destroyed. At the same time, a jet of liquid is supplied from the nozzle under pressure, usually it is plain water, but sometimes there may be a solution of antiseptics. A jet of water is needed in order to wash off the fragments of tartar and see if it is still necessary to act on the tooth with ultrasound.

After ultrasonic treatment, the teeth are polished with special pastes. The cost of this procedure is 100 rubles per tooth. The total price depends on the number of teeth to be cleaned.

You can also remove tartar with hand tools. We can say that manual cleaning is much better than ultrasonic cleaning. Manual cleaning uses binocular glasses that magnify the image by 3 times, allowing you to see everything down to the smallest particles. It is worth noting that cleaning with hand tools is a painful procedure, so dentists use anesthesia or freezing. Manual cleaning is also the prevention of periodontitis.

Consequences of tartar

• Caries is a consequence of tartar that destroys the tooth. This is due to the fact that the bacteria that cause caries in the course of their life activity secrete hydrochloric acid, which leads to the destruction of enamel and, as a result, the teeth begin to rot.
• Odor from the mouth . With the formation of caries, when the teeth have already begun to rot, a fetid odor is emitted from the mouth, which can interfere with communication with people.
• Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums. Gingivitis occurs as a result of the fact that microorganisms contained in plaque release toxins that act on inflammatory mediators. Gingivitis does not violate the integrity of the tooth, but if proper treatment is not performed for a long time, then gingivitis will turn into a more complex form - periodontitis. Periodontitis affects not only the gums, teeth, but also violates the integrity of the alveolar process of the jaw. Periodontitis is treated very difficult and long.
• Deterioration of general well-being . If there are concomitant diseases, then they will manifest themselves even more strongly. This is because toxins are absorbed into the gums and from there into the bloodstream. In this case, the cardiovascular system most often suffers, arthritis and diabetes mellitus become aggravated.
• Anemia . Inflammation of the gums usually causes bleeding. Frequent bleeding gums can lead to anemia.
• Loose teeth . Tartar over time leads to the fact that the teeth rot and loosen, in the future this can lead to complete loss of teeth.

Tartar prevention

You can prevent the appearance of tartar. A few ways to help you with this:

1. ​Toothbrush. Cleanliness of the oral cavity depends on the correct choice of a toothbrush. Dentists recommend choosing a toothbrush with natural bristles, but not too hard. Dentists recommend using electric toothbrushes, but they are not suitable for everyone.
2. At night, a large number of microbes multiply in the oral cavity, so you need to brush your teeth not only in the morning, but also before bedtime.
3. Toothpaste. Choose a whitening toothpaste in the morning and an herbal-based toothpaste in the evening. So you can whiten your teeth and heal your gums.
4. Rinsing. Rinse your mouth after eating to remove food particles. The pharmacy sells a wide variety of mouthwashes. Choose the one that's right for you.
5. Dental floss is your faithful assistant. With its help, you can get rid of plaque in hard-to-reach places.
6. Visit the dentist every six months.
7. Chewing gum. If you have eaten and there was no toothbrush nearby, regular chewing gum will help you. Chew it for 5 minutes, and the plaque on your teeth will be significantly reduced.
8. Eat less flour and sweets.

Folk remedies in the fight against tartar

• Method number 1 . Take a toothbrush, dampen it with water, then dip it in salt. Salt remaining on the brush, massage the gums and teeth. Do this procedure twice a week.
• Method number 2 . Take burdock root and bean peel in equal amounts. Fill with a glass of water and leave to infuse for a day. The resulting broth must be drunk during the day. Drink this decoction three times a week and tartar will form much less often than usual.
• Method number 3 . Decoction on birch buds. We do everything in the same way as described in method No. 2.

How to brush your teeth properly

1. Brushing your teeth is necessary in several stages. First you need to clean the molars. With short movements from the gums, we clean the plaque from both the outer and inner sides of the teeth.
2. The front teeth are brushed with a sweeping motion. Both outside and inside.
3. The chewing surface is cleaned by placing the brush horizontally, and moving back and forth.
4. The final step is to clean the cheeks and tongue. If the brush does not have a special surface for cleaning the tongue, use the one that is. Remove plaque from the tongue and cheeks with a few light strokes. Movement should be light so as not to damage the papillae located on the tongue.
5. Also, several times, at your discretion, it is advisable to massage the gums. To do this, you can buy a special brush with rubber bristles at the pharmacy.

By following all these simple tips, you can prevent the formation of tartar, and if it is, then not get rid of it, but at least prevent the appearance of new tartar. If you still have problems, contact your dentist immediately.