Shout out to Andrew from San Antonio for asking me, “How can you tell if you removed all of the plaque?” GOOD QUESTION!!
First of all, let me just say that plaque is the sticky stuff that builds up on your teeth. It needs to be removed every day or it will harden into tartar (aka-calculus). Once that happens, only your dentist or hygienist can take it off with a special instrument designed for that purpose. But, you have the ability to remove all of the soft plaque with your toothbrush and floss and that is your goal.
Even if you use the best techniques and think you are getting it all, you might be missing some spots. In addition, we tend to miss the same spots every day! And sometimes we have trouble areas where it seems that the plaque builds up as soon as we brush and floss our teeth. (My trouble spot is on the tongue side of my lower front teeth…gross)
There is a really easy way to find out which spots you missed. A “disclosing tablet” is a chewable tablet that contains a harmless vegetable dye that stains the plaque. The key is to brush, floss, then chew one of these tablets and then rinse. The areas that still have plaque on them will retain the stain!. This gives you instant feedback on where you need to do a better job and get at it more diligently.
These tablets can be bought over the counter in the dental care section of any drug store. The most common ones use just a red stain. There are ones that are more sophisticated that contain several color dyes. These will stain immature plaque red, mature plaque purple and pathological acidic plaque blue. I say stick with the plain red ones. I am of the KISS school (Keep It Simple Stupid). I don’t care how old or new the plaque is…it just needs to go!
Keep asking questions and I will keep responding!
And keep smiling!!