Black tartar

[MDee]

Hi,

I would like to ask you for a help with my teeth problem which is a black tartar.

I started to visit dental hygienist, she helps me to remove it, but after some time (3-4 months) it starts to appear again and it does not look good.
Good thing about visiting her is also the fact, that she learns me how to clean my teeth properly in order to clean all the hardly accessible places. Well, I do not do it all properly yet, but since I started to use that new technique, in some places the black tartar is not appearing (or at least not in such a measure).
The disadvantage I spot is that the black tartar started to appear on the places where it was not before - for example, on the front side of the front upper teeth! I think it is because the dental hygiene procedure, where new grooves and scratches on the teeth are made, and where this tartar started to appear then. So it seems to be like visiting a dental hygiene helps me to remove the tartar on the one hand, but on the other hand, it creates new scratches as a new potential place for the tartar to appear.

I was told there that my problem with tartar was caused in the past, that maybe as a child I used a lot of antibiotics and those killed the original, good, primary bacterias in my mouth and after that, the secondary bacterias were created
as a substitution, which has the same function as the previous ones, but are not as good in quality, which results in the creating of that tartar.

I was recommended to use a point brush (the one with the small, rounded head for getting a better access), interdental brushes, dental floss and also a mouthwash (Listerine – Advanced White – Mild Taste, which was introduced as better than the Listerines normally available in the stores, but what are the exact positives and negatives of this product, I do not know). I was also recommended to use a sonic brush, which can wash the hardly accessible places better. Well, I was not very consistent in following these recommendations, especially this time when I do not do it almost at all.
Anyway, my question is, is it possible to clean my teeth in a way that every part will be properly cleaned? Because it seems quite hard for me to access all the places properly, also with that tools. And it takes a lot of time to use all that tools I was recommended to use.

I have also read that black tartar is "mostly a sign of underlying tooth decay or tooth decay that must be treated as quickly as possible." How to stop a tooth decay? So if it is true, then visiting a dental hygienist is not enough, because his/her work is mainly superficial and there is a problem with tooth decay which should be also solved. Am I right?

There was also said that "The consumption of specific food items and drinks can add a stain on the tooth's natural enamel, making your teeth discolour." Can the black color of the tartar be caused by specific food, liquids, chemical elements?

Can you help me, please? Is there any tooth brush with a special shape to get into hardly accessible areas of the teeth? For example, the lower front teeth. Can a usage of a water flosser help? What would you recommend? What are the possibilities to improve my health, the microflore in the mouth, so that this plaque will not creating? Is something like this possible? For example, by using some probiotics etc. Or should I only aim on the proper cleaning of my teeth, spend more time in the bathroom and hope that I will learn a perfect technique?

Thank you

 

[MattKW]

Lots of questions, here goes...

1. Antibiotics as a child... doesn't work that way, total tosh. If you had massive doses of antibiotics it could kill lots of bacteria, good and bad, and then you would be in big gut trouble. Most often seen nowadays in immunocompromised patients.
   Certain antibiotics (tetracyclines) taken as a child would stain the developing teeth permanently. Tetras were mainly used for respiratory infections, e.g. bronchitis. They stopped giving them to children in the 70s(?) Still a useful drug, and has no effect on adult teeth.
2. I am not aware of any magical ingredient in any Listerine mouthwash that will make your teeth whiter. I have emailed them today asking for the study which they reference on their website.
   The only truly effective mouthwash is a chlorhexidine (0.12 or 0.2%) which has a substantive antibacterial action when applied to clean teeth, i.e. after bushing and interdental care.
3. Cleaning your teeth requires a manual or electric toothbrush (washing-machine action) and either flossing (if tight teeth) or interdental brushes (for large gaps). Sonic toothbrushes are silly, and I don't think much of Waterpiks.
4. Black tartar occurs when white tartar picks up pigment from bleeding gums, i.e. haemoglobin. Nothing to do with decay - you can have mountains of black tartar but no cavities in sight.
5. Some foods will deposit a stain on the enamel, NOT embed in the enamel. Common culprits are tea, coffee, red wine. If you brush 2x daily then you will minimise these superficial stains. These are harmless stains, and do not need to be removed unless they are unsightly to you.

 

[MDee]

Lots of questions, here goes...

1. Antibiotics as a child... doesn't work that way, total tosh. If you had massive doses of antibiotics it could kill lots of bacteria, good and bad, and then you would be in big gut trouble. Most often seen nowadays in immunocompromised patients.
   Certain antibiotics (tetracyclines) taken as a child would stain the developing teeth permanently. Tetras were mainly used for respiratory infections, e.g. bronchitis. They stopped giving them to children in the 70s(?) Still a useful drug, and has no effect on adult teeth.
2. I am not aware of any magical ingredient in any Listerine mouthwash that will make your teeth whiter. I have emailed them today asking for the study which they reference on their website.
   The only truly effective mouthwash is a chlorhexidine (0.12 or 0.2%) which has a substantive antibacterial action when applied to clean teeth, i.e. after bushing and interdental care.
3. Cleaning your teeth requires a manual or electric toothbrush (washing-machine action) and either flossing (if tight teeth) or interdental brushes (for large gaps). Sonic toothbrushes are silly, and I don't think much of Waterpiks.
4. Black tartar occurs when white tartar picks up pigment from bleeding gums, i.e. haemoglobin. Nothing to do with decay - you can have mountains of black tartar but no cavities in sight.
5. Some foods will deposit a stain on the enamel, NOT embed in the enamel. Common culprits are tea, coffee, red wine. If you brush 2x daily then you will minimise these superficial stains. These are harmless stains, and do not need to be removed unless they are unsightly to you.

Thank you for your response and advices.

Anyway, I would like to ask you, why do you consider an electric toothbrush better than the sonic one? From the information I have, the sonic toothbrush is considered to be better.

2. That Listerine mouthwash I was recommended to use in order to kill the bacteria. I think the reason was that, not the whitening effect (although it is mentioned as an effect on the bottle). The chlorhexidine mouthwash you mentioned, so, do you recommend it to use it regularly (well, in the recommended amount of time, I found out that it is a period of 2 weeks) or is it something which is not as necessary when dealing with a black tartar? And can using such a mouthwash also have a negative impact on the good microflora in the mouth?

4. So, if it is as you say, then I need to stop the gums to bleed and then the black tartar will not create. But the white one will be still there. How to get rid of it? I think it is quite hard for me to access all the surface of the teeth. And actually, the black tartar started to create on the front side of the upper teeth, which I think I wash quite a lot. Why that happened? There should not be the tartar, whether white or black. Isn't it because of the new scratches caused by dental hygiene procedure, as I mentioned before? That it creates a new "hiding place" for the bacteria?

Thank you.

 

[MDee]

Lots of questions, here goes...

1. Antibiotics as a child... doesn't work that way, total tosh. If you had massive doses of antibiotics it could kill lots of bacteria, good and bad, and then you would be in big gut trouble. Most often seen nowadays in immunocompromised patients.
   Certain antibiotics (tetracyclines) taken as a child would stain the developing teeth permanently. Tetras were mainly used for respiratory infections, e.g. bronchitis. They stopped giving them to children in the 70s(?) Still a useful drug, and has no effect on adult teeth.
2. I am not aware of any magical ingredient in any Listerine mouthwash that will make your teeth whiter. I have emailed them today asking for the study which they reference on their website.
   The only truly effective mouthwash is a chlorhexidine (0.12 or 0.2%) which has a substantive antibacterial action when applied to clean teeth, i.e. after bushing and interdental care.
3. Cleaning your teeth requires a manual or electric toothbrush (washing-machine action) and either flossing (if tight teeth) or interdental brushes (for large gaps). Sonic toothbrushes are silly, and I don't think much of Waterpiks.
4. Black tartar occurs when white tartar picks up pigment from bleeding gums, i.e. haemoglobin. Nothing to do with decay - you can have mountains of black tartar but no cavities in sight.
5. Some foods will deposit a stain on the enamel, NOT embed in the enamel. Common culprits are tea, coffee, red wine. If you brush 2x daily then you will minimise these superficial stains. These are harmless stains, and do not need to be removed unless they are unsightly to you.

4. Also, I found this:

"When the untreated tartar continues to buildup, tooth decay results. Since plaque and tartar are acidic, they can eat through the tooth enamel and cause cavities. Extensive decay is also a possibility and you may lose your teeth."

So, it seems that this and your information do not match up very much.

 

[MattKW]

4. Also, I found this:

"When the untreated tartar continues to buildup, tooth decay results. Since plaque and tartar are acidic, they can eat through the tooth enamel and cause cavities. Extensive decay is also a possibility and you may lose your teeth."

So, it seems that this and your information do not match up very much.

I have highlighted relevant parts in the attached docs:

• Sonic toothbrushes - attached (1).
• Mouthwashes - attached (2). No long-term bad effect on microflora in healthy people, stick to 0.12% to avoid staining. I use it every night. I've cut out parts of the article due to size limitations, but full-text link is here.
• Calculus formation (3). Clean teeth will reduce calculus formation.
• In my experience, stain on the outer surfaces of teeth (extrinsic - 4) are usually dietary in nature, and not related to separate calculus formation.
• The quote you found here is not authoritative, and actually is largely false.

 

[MDee]

I have highlighted relevant parts in the attached docs:

• Sonic toothbrushes - attached (1).
• Mouthwashes - attached (2). No long-term bad effect on microflora in healthy people, stick to 0.12% to avoid staining. I use it every night. I've cut out parts of the article due to size limitations, but full-text link is here.
• Calculus formation (3). Clean teeth will reduce calculus formation.
• In my experience, stain on the outer surfaces of teeth (extrinsic - 4) are usually dietary in nature, and not related to separate calculus formation.
• The quote you found here is not authoritative, and actually is largely false.

Thank you for your reply and effort. Also for the materials. I am going to read them more