Tartar is truly the “bogeyman” of oral hygiene. It’s the evolution of plaque and is a key contributor to the onset of gum disease.
You can also expect tooth loss if plaque develops too far. A little tartar won’t cause those problems right away, however.
It takes some time for those serious effects to take hold. Your job is to seek tartar removal right away and keep a close eye on your oral hygiene.
We’re going to talk more about the dangers of avoiding tartar removal today, giving you insight into ways that you can stay safe. Let’s get started.
How Does Tartar Develop?
To understand the dangers of tartar, we need to look at how it forms. Tartar is essentially a deep-rooted colony of harmful bacteria. Note that “bacteria” isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have inside of our bodies.
In fact, we all have billions and billions of bacteria living in us at any time, contributing to the healthy function of our bodies. All of those good bacteria work to kick out the bad stuff.
When it comes to our oral health, “bad” bacteria enter as a byproduct of sugar and starch being processed by our oral bacteria. Our mouth transforms these substances into plaque, which itself is a colony of bacteria.
This bacteria can wear down the enamel of our teeth, cause bad breath, and work its way into the lining of our gums. When enough plaque builds up and situates itself in our gums and on our teeth, it hardens and turns to plaque.
So, plaque and tartar are essentially the same things except plaque is harder and more insidious.
What Are The Risks of Avoiding Tartar Removal?
So, what happens when you leave tartar unattended?
First, you’ll notice dark-colored stains along the lining of your teeth, gums, and the spaces in between teeth. These are signs that plaque is developing and strengthening.
You’ll also notice breath that smells progressively worse. Note that plaque is the reason for “bad breath.” Tartar is just a smellier version of that, and the smell compounds as you develop more of it.
Tartar actively erodes and eats away at your teeth and gums. Your gums are the weaker of the two, so you’ll notice the effects on your gums first.
Gums get irritated and inflamed as the process unfolds. Soon after, you’ll have the initial symptoms of the gum disease, gingivitis.
Gingivitis has various levels of severity. At first, someone with a diagnosis of gingivitis can be easily treated. Simply removing the plaque and tartar via a dentist appointment might be enough to recover.
After a while, though, gingivitis contributes to very serious issues.
More Serious Symptoms
Gingivitis advances into more serious periodontal diseases. Symptoms advance to deteriorate the structure and substance of your jawbone. That erosion can continue so long as you don’t do anything about advanced tartar.
As a result of bone loss and gum deterioration, you can expect to lose teeth. Tooth loss comes progressively if the tartar goes unchecked. In most cases, tartar and gum disease only have the chance to wreak havoc on your oral health, teeth, and gums.
In extreme cases, though, the infection in your gums spreads to the rest of your body. The plaque in your teeth develops into tartar which causes heart disease, contributing to potential strokes, heart attacks, and death.
Clearly, none of these symptoms are desirable. Intolerable bad breath starts to seem mild when compared with a potential heart attack, though! The next time you notice your breath is smellier than usual, just remember that it’s the smell of millions of bacteria eating away at your gums and enamel.
Ways to Prevent Tartar Damage
Fortunately, there are myriad ways for you to take care of your teeth and fight tartar.
The first thing to do is to establish a regular oral routine. Brushing twice per day and flossing once does the trick for most people. If you have an unusually sugary diet or your teeth are sensitive, you might want to increase those numbers.
Flossing is the big one when it comes to tartar. The spaces in between your teeth are optimal for bacteria to develop and spread. Flossing breaks that equation up and kills the bacteria, whereas brushing can hardly reach the lining of the gums or the deep cracks between molars.
Address Crooked Teeth
Crooked teeth are problematic for your oral health because they tend to create space in the gums, allowing plaque to gather. Those cracks are the hosts of serious plaque in a lot of cases.
That’s why braces of any kind are great options. You can talk with your dentist about other methods for fixing these issues as well. Learn more about Invisalign if you’re not interested in having visible braces.
When teeth straighten out, those spaces are diminished and so is the presence of tartar.
Make a Dentist Appointment
The most important thing you can do, other than maintaining good oral health practices, is to see your dentist. See them on a regular basis and don’t push these appointments off.
Your dentist can clean out all of the visible plaque and tartar that develops between appointments. This greatly reduces the chances of periodontal disease. Your dentist is also able to tell you when preventative measures are needed.
If things have gotten past the point of a simple cleaning, there are numerous ways that professionals can remove tartar. In some cases, a mild surgery is needed to keep things in check.
In more serious instances, you might need to have a tooth repaired. These are all preferable to tooth loss, heart disease, and serious damage to your gums.
Want to Learn More About Improving Your Health?
We hope our ideas on tartar removal were insightful to you. There’s more to learn about keeping your mouth, mind, and body healthy, though. We’re here to help you get all the information you need to maintain your wellness.
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