CATEGORY 40 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST INNOVATIONS Like with almost everything in nature, there are always some bacteria in your mouth and on your teeth. Bacteria are basically everywhere: in the air, in food, on your skin, the whole world is covered in them, so don’t be surprised. Usually, these bacteria are in perfect balance with the protective agents in our mouth. We have certain antibacterial agents in our saliva that keep the normal bacterial flora in check. But when bacteria meet a hard surface (our teeth) in a moist environment, they tend to settle on that surface and start building up. concerned about your well-being, so they just build the film wherever possible. When bacteria breed in the safety of biofilm, they produce a lot of waste. The bigger and stronger the biofilm, the more waste bacteria produce. This waste offsets the chemical balance on our teeth, leading to tooth decay, bad breath and gum disease. When the film is too thick and strong, we call it dental plaque. Naturally, we want to avoid plaque as much as we can. How to destroy the plaque The only way to properly destroy the biofilm is by physically disrupting its structure. You take a soft toothbrush and clean your teeth: two times a day, gently and thoroughly, front and back, until the teeth are clean. Rushing through the process won’t work: when you don’t brush properly, there’s a lot of biofilms left on the teeth, so bacteria have no problem rebuilding their colonies in the next few hours. Using mouthwash instead of brushing won’t work either: the film can get really strong, so mouthwash won’t do any lasting damage. You might feel freshness in your mouth, but this feeling merely masks the fact that the biofilm is still there and the bacterial colony is growing stronger. The same goes for chewing gum: it masks bad breath, but the bacterial colonies are still there, breeding and producing waste. To get rid of the plaque, you’ve got to brush; there is no other way. Toothpaste also plays an important role in fighting plaque: the biofilm gets destroyed through mechanical brushing, and then the paste helps increase your natural defence (given that it contains fluoride, but that’s a story for another time). However, the paste alone doesn’t work. Dental plaque hides in the interdental space Typical brushing only covers the front of your teeth. Proper brushing has to cover the front and back. But no conventional brush can reach the areas at the sides of your teeth – we call those areas the interdental space. When you have food stuck in your teeth, that’s where it goes. Everyone has some sort of interdental space, but since your tongue isn’t thin enough to get there, you might think you have none. But you do: if you ever used a toothpick, that’s where it went. Everyone is talking about interdental brushing, but why do we need it? In our mouth, bacteria build structures that we call biofilm – it’s a layer of living organisms reinforced with protective elements. This biofilm allows bacteria to live and breed in a more protected environment. Basically, biofilm is like bacteria building villages, towns, and cities – but it is on your teeth. The bacteria are not Interdental space is the best place for the biofilm to accumulate: it’s usually undisturbed, quiet and full of nutrients. So, even people with great brushing habits can have dental plaque accumulating in the interdental space. This place has to be cleaned. Cleaning the interdental space: flossing vs. interdental brush There are two common ways to clean interdental space: dental floss and interdental brushes.
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