Asklemmy

43742 readers

1095 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
[email protected]: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

119

How do you effectively prevent plaque/tartar forming on your teeth? (mander.xyz)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

77 comments fedilink hide all child comments

My teeth are in good health and I take good care of them, yet I always get this plaque buildup no matter what I try.

I've tried different brushes, toothpastes, and flossing methods to no avail. Mouthwash is too harsh on my mouth and peels my skin off so I avoid that.

I haven't tried waterpicks or electric brushes yet. Did you? Did they work for you? Have you succeeded in preventing plaque and if so, how???

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Sugar is a primary source of food for the bacteria that make up plaque. If you feed the bacteria, they will grow. As you can't eliminate 100% of the sugar from your diet, teeth care is always going to be required. Less sugar, however, means, slower growth.

Also. Just like dogs have dental chews that help to clean their teeth, eating other non sugar foods can assist with controlling plaque. Vegetables in particular are helpful, but even something like chewing on beef jerky acts as a sort of scrub brush for the outside of the teeth.