How is dental plaque formed?

The appearance of dental plaque not only affects the beauty of people's teeth, but also endangers people's oral health. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the formation process of dental plaque and prevent it. In fact, the formation process of dental plaque has three stages. The first stage is that the nutrients in saliva accumulate on the surface of teeth.

1. Formation process

The establishment and maturity of dental plaque, or the "bacterial community", requires three stages:

First, the nutrients in the saliva are adsorbed on the surface of the teeth, forming the fertile "soil" of the "community", which is the formation of acquired film. This process can form on the freshly cleaned tooth surface within a few minutes and rapidly thicken within 1-2 hours.

After the "soil" is formed, it can attract bacteria to settle and provide nutrients for the bacteria, which is called bacterial adhesion and copolymerization. First, pioneer bacteria will come to settle, cultivate the soil, and establish the basic infrastructure of the community. Then they will attract more other bacteria to settle, and an "emerging community" will be born.

If there is no human destruction, the "emerging community" will soon grow and become a "mature community", that is, the plaque matures. Many bacteria gather together, provide nutrients to each other, and absorb nutrients from saliva. The bacteria multiply rapidly, and the "community" structure becomes tighter. They can jointly resist external interference, which cannot be removed by gargling. Generally, it takes 9 days for a complex, mature "community" to develop into a variety of bacteria.

2. Hazards

Dental plaque mainly harms teeth and gums, which are the two most common diseases in the oral cavity: caries and periodontal disease.

Caries is commonly known as "tooth decay", and the "worms" here refer to the bacteria in the plaque. Dental plaque is firmly attached to the tooth surface. Bacteria ingest sugars in saliva, break down sugars to produce acids, which damage teeth and eventually form holes.

When dental plaque approaches the gums, the toxins and other harmful substances produced by the bacteria will irritate the gums (commonly known as "gums" or "gum beds") and cause inflammation, which is gingivitis. If left uncontrolled and allowed to develop, gingivitis may develop into irreversible periodontitis, causing destruction of the alveolar bone and ultimately leading to loosening and falling teeth.