Dental plaquerefers to bacterial communities adhering to tooth surfaces, interdental spaces or restorations. It gradually mineralizes into dental calculus within approximately 2‑14 days. Plaque disclosing agents effectively assess oral hygiene conditions by staining dental plaque. The darker the color, the older the plaque deposits.
Mastering apersonalized brushing techniqueguided by a dentist can effectively remove unmineralized dental plaque from tooth surfaces, interdental spaces and restorations.
For natural teeth and restorations, dentists can use professional supragingival and subgingival air‑polishing devices to effectively remove pigments, tobacco stains, tea stains, wine stains, plaque, soft deposits and early‑stage dental calculus in gingival and interdental spaces.
Dental plaque mineralizes intodental calculusin an average of about 12 days. Dental calculus is extremely hard, at which point brushing can no longer achieve effective cleaning. Early‑stage dental calculus accumulates above the gingiva. Dentists can remove it efficiently with professional ultrasonic scaling equipment. The purpose of regular dental cleaning is to timely eliminate supragingival calculus and prevent its accumulation under the gingiva.
If supragingival dental calculus is not cleaned in time, it will gradually accumulate subgingivally. Ultrasonic scaling instruments cannot reach areas more than 1 mm beneath the gingiva.The presence of subgingival calculuscan cause gingival bleeding, swelling and the formation of periodontal pockets. In severe cases, it may lead to gingival recession and periodontitis.
Subgingival scaling: Subgingival dental calculus is not directly visible to the naked eye. Dentists need to detect it withspecialized probes,then clean each tooth manually one‑by‑one using subgingival scalers of various sizes, and it also requires
