Plaque is a term designating tooth deposits, it causes cavities and parodontitis.

This biofilm consists of bacteria from saliva and bits of food stuck in the teeth. Plaque is organized like a small city: there are bacteria which specialize in attaching to the teeth. Other bacteria help to transport nutrients by building conveyance channels, still other bacteria dissolve dental enamel and produce energy for the plaque and so on. As long as they are disorganized, oral bacteria are not dangerous. It is only after plaque build-up that they start causing cavities and/or parodontitis. Pathological plaque takes 24 hours to form, it is thus important to stop the spread of plaque, in order to keep teeth healthy.

Plaque can be removed using a toothbrush, dental floss and an oral rinse. Here you can see various x-rays of patients, the white spots are fillings. You may notice that these patients, and you as well, only have bad teeth on the side of the mouth. From these pictures, it is obvious that people first get fillings, crowns and bridges in the side, the reason being that the front – the window display, is well-cleaned. Here the plaque is removed more effectively, while plaque removal is not performed as well on the side and this is why we all start getting fillings on the side first. If faulty dental treatment is performed and inadequate information provided to patients, then at the age of 50, most people no longer have teeth on the side, the front teeth experience too much strain and at 60 presto – you get a total denture – the typical course of inadequate dental hygiene.