What Causes Plaque?

Plaque is one of the most fiendish enemies in the struggle to maintain good oral hygiene. This filmy deposit builds up quickly on teeth, sticks tenaciously and, left unhindered, can wreak havoc on your oral health. Acids within plaque erode the enamel of teeth and continue their path of destruction until a full-blown cavity has formed, or worse. The biological means by which plaque forms in the mouth are similarly distasteful, but understanding how plaque works is a powerful tool in the fight against it.

What is Plaque, Anyway?

• Dental plaque, it turns out, is not all one substance. It is an aggregate various kinds of materials that are likely to be found in the mouth. Plaque's primary component is bacteria, and not just one kind: UCLA professor Susan K. Haake calls it a "complex microbial community" containing as many as 400 different bacterial species. Inorganic materials such as calcium and phosphorus, which are prevalent in saliva, are also found in plaque.

Causes of Plaque

• Oral bacteria have their own agenda.

  The mouth is prime real estate for bacteria, and this isn't a health hazard in itself. But you have to be a strict landlord when dealing with these tenants, who will take advantage of comfortable conditions. The bacteria discharge adhesive chemicals, called mucopolysaccharides, which stick to the teeth. This enables them to form a biofilm, which is essentially a posh bacterial residence, perfect for feasting and reproduction and secretion of acidic byproducts. All this adds up to plaque. It is a soft, sticky substance, but if ignored long enough plaque petrifies into tartar and cements itself to the teeth.

Identifying Plaque

• Your dentist or dental hygienist will quickly recognize plaque and tartar buildup on your teeth. She may use an ultraviolet plaque light for easy detection. If you would like to check for plaque on your own, ask your dentist to give you a plaque-disclosing tablet. Before using the tablet, brush, floss and rinse thoroughly. Chew the tablet slowly, over about 30 seconds, to allow its red dye to spread throughout your mouth, and then rinse again. Bright red stains will indicate plaque buildup on your teeth. The dye is harmless, but dentists recommend using it at night, so that the red stain has the entire night to disappear before you go out again.

Prevention

• Fibrous fruits and vegetables are natural weapons against plaque.

  Brushing your teeth after every meal and flossing at least once a day goes a long way toward cleaning away the bacterial buildup that forms plaque. Keeping up with your dental visits is also crucial. The dental hygienist can get a good look at hard-to-reach spots most prone to neglect and scrape plaque out before it becomes harmful. Simple sugars and carbohydrates are the bacteria's primary nutrition source, so avoiding sugary foods is a powerful weapon against the formation of plaque. Instead, snack on crunchy vegetables and fibrous fruits. These are "nature's toothbrushes," according to WebMD, and eating them can help to keep teeth clean and plaque-free.