Your dental hygiene is a crucial element of your healthcare. It is necessary that you maintain your teeth in excellent health and live a safe and healthy life.
One must take careful measures to ensure dental, oral health, and hygiene, and to do so, other than routine checkups, one must take preventative measures. The buildup of tartar on teeth is a common problem that can be cured without the aid of your dentist.
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What is Tartar?
Tartar, also called calculus, results from the buildup of plaque on teeth, a sticky substance, over the surface of your teeth. If you brush your teeth infrequently, this layer of plaque hardens into calcified deposits, and this is labeled as tartar.
This causes teeth discoloration because of its yellowish-brown color and can cause tooth decay. If this buildup extends to the gum, it can cause serious dental complications, leading to tooth cavities and gum infections.
How to Remove Tartar from Teeth?
While you can get it removed by a dentist, there are also home remedies that you should try if visiting a dentist is not an option for you for any possible reason. The following methods will help.
1. Use Baking Soda
Mix some baking soda on your toothbrush and use it to thoroughly scrub your gums and teeth. Before you rinse, make sure to leave it on for fifteen minutes or more. Baking soda works by neutralizing the acids in plaque and killing the bacteria in it.
It also naturally whitens the teeth. You can also mix salt with baking soda as salt helps soften calculus or tartar. When you have to rinse your mouth, do it with lukewarm water and then gargle. To attain long-lasting and positive results, continue doing so three times a week.
2. Use White Vinegar
Get some vinegar and mix it with warm water in a glass. A ratio of two tablespoons white vinegar with a cup of warm water should work. Adding salt to the solution will also help.
Gargle with this warm salt solution once a day. This will help remove tartar from between your teeth, and its acetic nature will kill germs and bacteria.
3. Use Orange Peels
Just like vinegar, orange also does the trick of killing bacteria and removing tartar from teeth. Get orange peels and rub them along the surface of the teeth and on the gums.
Alternatively, you can make a paste of mashed parts from the inside of the peels and then mix them with water for use. You can use this paste with a toothbrush.
Orange has vitamin C that, together with its antimicrobial properties, helps remove the tartar and kill bacteria or other germs.
4. Use Sesame Seeds
Another excellent home remedy for the removal of tartar is the use of sesame seeds. First, get a handful of sesame seeds and put them in your mouth.
Chew until they become mush, but do not swallow. Then use a dry brush to rub the sesame mush over your teeth and rinse your mouth after a while of brushing.
How to Prevent the Buildup of Tartar? Some Tips
Here are some tips to remove tartar:
1. Brush Regularly
The leading cause of tartar buildup is infrequent brushing. Doing so repeatedly will automatically remove the tartar. It is best to use a brush with soft bristles, especially for the hidden areas of your teeth. An electric toothbrush will be even more effective than an ordinary one.
Dentists advise that you brush your teeth at least twice a day when you wake up and before going to bed. Occasional brushing is ineffective. It is only when you brush regularly that you can prevent common plaque from hardening into calculus.
2. Use Toothpaste Designed to Remove Tartar
Calculus-control toothpaste is easily and readily available in the market. And they are highly effective in eliminating tartar. These toothpastes include fluoride and pyrophosphates mainly.
The fluoride has antibacterial and antiseptic qualities to fight against bacteria and other germs. This helps remove plaque by killing the bacteria that make it up.
3. Floss
Regular flossing keeps the area between teeth clean and free of food particle deposits. It is not uncommon for food pieces to get stuck between teeth.
Brushing cannot remove these, and if left there, it can cause plaque to build up. Regular flossing is essential to keep these inaccessible remote areas clean and healthy.
4. Keep a Check on Your Diet
The bacteria that exist naturally in your mouth feed on sugary and starchy substances. When one takes in too much such food, and it gets stuck between teeth, bacterial growth is promoted. The bacteria secrete harmful acids that cause further dental complications.
It is best to maintain a healthy diet with a limited sugary food intake. You don’t have to avoid such foods altogether; just limit the intake and remember to brush frequently to prevent the food particles from staying between the teeth.
Conclusion
Prevention is always better than cure. If you take proper care of your teeth, you can stop plaque before it develops into tartar.
The best practice is to brush your teeth at least twice a day for a minimum of 2 minutes. Keep the brush at a forty-five-degree angle to the teeth, and brush thoroughly in every corner.
Secondly, consume less sugary foods and drinks because this is the root cause of plaque and tartar. When these glucose or starch-rich foods get left between the teeth, it encourages the growth of bacteria, and plaque builds up. The sugary food itself is also a part of the layer of plaque that forms.
Moreover, with frequent flossing, you can avoid plaque altogether because that ensures that even the gap between your teeth gets cleaned.
Top this routine off with gargling with vinegar water regularly, and you can avoid the problem very effectively.
Plaque, if left untreated, can develop into hardened tartar that becomes much more difficult to remove. You can try the remedies mentioned above if you feel that your teeth are layered with tartar.
With these methods, you may not have to visit the dentist at all. Just remember to keep brushing and flossing regularly.
