Plaque remover, any recommendations?

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Cant get into hygienist for 6 months. My teeth are clogged up and dirty from tea coffee etc during lockdown and closures. Ive seen that you can buy yr own device for scraping plaque off teeth and discolouration etv.

Anyone recommend?

As a hygienist its a massive massive no from me.

Awful things -huge risk of damaging your gums or pulling out a filling or leaving sharp bits behind.
And they way they show you to use them is completely and utterly wrong
Besides how would you sterilise it at home you’d be reinfecting your mouth next time you use it

Please let us professionals do it properly for you

I keep seeing water flossers and want one. At the moment I just use a stainless steel teeth scraper from Amazon to get the worst bits off.

Well it's been over a year and cant get in for another 6 months... Im desparate!

Would a water flosser help? I have no experience of one but thinking of buying one.

Water flosses won’t get rid of plaque - they just dislodge food particles between teeth.

Of course hygienists will put you off - less business for them 😂

I have an electric scraper thing I use carefully on my teeth, it’s great and they feel so much cleaner. Some hygienists are very rough, I do a better job.

This one www.amazon.co.uk/Cleaning-5-Working-Level-Household-Whitener-Rechargeable/dp/B092J1Q472/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?hvlocphy=9045971&hvnetw=g&keywords=electric+tooth+flosser&hvadid=445729835924&qid=1640350165&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_JWOBhDRARIsANymNObj2YLve0boOMHRWt-IbHuu4nLLax1nM5VbeIm8QdtK5U4OYckqDxwaArv4EALw_wcB&hydadcr=16880_1798496&hvdev=m&hvqmt=e&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=kwd-296431638682&adgrpid=103373016853&hvrand=17486253499577103967&sr=8-13

@Heatherjayne1972

As a hygienist its a massive massive no from me. Awful things -huge risk of damaging your gums or pulling out a filling or leaving sharp bits behind. And they way they show you to use them is completely and utterly wrong Besides how would you sterilise it at home you’d be reinfecting your mouth next time you use it

Please let us professionals do it properly for you

I've never been to a hygienist and I don't get stains on my teeth, nor plaque. But I'm interested to understand this bit about "reinfecting". Are our mouths infected then? How do we know if they are?

Yeah I agree with @Heatherjayne1972 don't do it OP. At best they will do fuck all. At worse you risk damaging your teeth/gums/existing restorations. Just wait for the hygienist and when you are there you can talk about ways to better manage your oral hygiene between appointments so it doesn't build up.

I can absolutely garuntee that you do not do a better job than a hygienist with an electronic scaler you bought off amazon. Do you think that hygienist years of study and experience means fuck all? Given the fact the hygienist is booked up for 6 months I don't think that are too worried about losing business

@VanGoghsDog
When you use any implement you dislodge the oral bacteria - remember they are microscopic so you can’t see them
They get all over the tool. Unless you have a way of sterilising the surface of the the tool those bugs will sit there and wait until you poke it in your ( or someone else’s) mouth and the germs will transport to a new area

At work it’s extremely important that we don’t transfer germs from the previous patients to you that’s why we have proper medical grade (tested daily and routinely) autoclaves
Most homes don’t have that and can’t sterilise well enough therefore there’s a cross infection risk and no boiling water does nothing

Would I as a hygienist have one of these at home
Hell no

My dentist and hygienist have been working as normal for ages. I've seen the hygienist at least twice this year

No, I still don't get it - are you saying there are bacteria in my mouth (I know there are) that are dangerous, but safe as long as I don't "dislodge" them to another area?

I'm not sure they would sit on the tool very long, don't bacteria need specific conditions to live - hence we freeze/heat/cool things etc to get rid of them? A metal implement sitting in a drawer surely wouldn't let them stay alive for long - not to mention people probably do wash them.

So, anyway, these bacteria in one section of my mouth that are a problem if moved to another part - what do they do that is a problem?

I have no idea because, as I said, I don't get stains or plaque, I've never been to a hygenist and only go to the dentist once every few years, didn't go for ten years one time, no treatment when I did go. I'm not looking to buy one of these, I've never felt the need to scrape at my teeth at all.

Fully agree you have to sterilise between people, of course, that's different.

Dont try a diy. Try a hygienist at a different dentist. It shouldn't be too difficult to get an appointment. Not like dentists.

@Viviennemary

Dont try a diy. Try a hygienist at a different dentist. It shouldn't be too difficult to get an appointment. Not like dentists.

I haven't been able to get a hygienist spot since covid. Dentistry is seriously under resourced. I'm not nhs but still can't get Ann appt.

Of course you get plaque. All humans do
Plaque is just bacteria. Under the microscope it looks exactly as you’d expect - wiggly things wiggling around
The bacteria come from everything that goes into your mouth - some can’t live there. Some get swallowed the rest just stay in your mouth
Do you really want to put something back in your mouth that’s been in your mouth and then sat in a dusty drawer - ew
Washing isn’t enough. That’s not going to sterilise the tool

Yes bacteria are killed -by heat cold and chemicals. But it’s a precise thing a specific temperature for a particular length of time

Yes it’s possible to transfer germs. Less likely on yourself tbh.

@iwantaparty
Wow we’ve been working normally since June 2020. I’m booked about 4 months ahead

@Heatherjayne1972

Of course you get plaque. All humans do Plaque is just bacteria. Under the microscope it looks exactly as you’d expect - wiggly things wiggling around The bacteria come from everything that goes into your mouth - some can’t live there. Some get swallowed the rest just stay in your mouth Do you really want to put something back in your mouth that’s been in your mouth and then sat in a dusty drawer - ew Washing isn’t enough. That’s not going to sterilise the tool Yes bacteria are killed -by heat cold and chemicals. But it’s a precise thing a specific temperature for a particular length of time

Yes it’s possible to transfer germs. Less likely on yourself tbh.

You've not said what the problem is with reintroducing bacteria, or moving around bacteria, in your own mouth?

So, why aren't toothbrushes killing us? They don't even go in a drawer (my drawers aren't dusty btw, you should clean yours out).

I don't get plaque build up, or tartar, and I only clean my teeth once a day. Confounds my dentist, but I don't. I've seen what plaque build up looks like on other people's teeth, and I don't get that. I don't get that stuff between the teeth, and I don't get hardened plaque that needs pick-axing off.

I always ask the dentist (well, I don't go often, but when I do) if I need to see the hygenist and they always say no.

But you've now said you're less likely to transfer germs on yourself, so that can't be your objection to someone doing DIY plaque removal.

OP do you floss? I use and electric toothbrush then floss and then follow with the tepe brushes, a range of different sizes. Once I've done that I rinse with mouthwash. I do that every night (I just use a brush in mornings) and have managed to prevent plaque build up successfully since I started doing it.
I am interested to know how the metal instruments used differ in terms of dislodging bacteria compared to the tepe brushes which you are advised to use more than once.

Once a month we do a deep clean ourselves using Eucryl powder!

We spend a good few minutes brushing each individual tooth and the gum line and really getting the teeth clean.

It’s amazing stuff, Costa under £2 for a tub and lasts ages.

Afterwards your mouth feels like new!

No pain like you get with the hygienist.

www.eucryl.co.uk/

Of course you get plaque build up @VanGoghsDog

Everyone gets plaque. Not calculus, plaque. Your dentist isn't going to be particularly astonished if you don't have obvious plaque because brushing your teeth removes plaque. It's not particularly confounding.

When you visit the hygienist they remove gum disease causing bacteria from the pockets (the area between your gums and your teeth). This prevents gum/perio disease. If you reintroduce that bacteria you are going to be more prone to gum disease. It's not going to kill you but it's just going to make you more prone to bone loss/gum disease

DIY calculus removal is just not going to be effective and risks damaging your gums and teeth. It's not a proper tool, you can't see your mouth properly, it's not going to kill you and no one has said it will. It's just a bad idea.

Your dentist isn't going to be particularly astonished if you don't have obvious plaque because brushing your teeth removes plaque. It's not particularly confounding.

The last one seemed pretty astonished, maybe he was putting it on 🤔

If brushing your teeth removes it why do people go to the hygienist and buy things off Amazon to remove it?

I simply don't get plaque build up. I've no fillings, no gum disease, all my teeth are my own. I've had a couple removed because my mouth is too small for them all, but no other work. I only brush my teeth once a day and never floss. I've never had tooth ache. They can be a bit sensitive but the dentist has said it's pretty normal. I'm 53.

I'm not buying the tool, I don't need it.

Plaque is soft bacteria build up on your teeth. Everyone gets it. Brushing your teeth removes it

Calculus is when that plaque is left and calcified. That needs to see a hygienist/dentist to remove. If you remove all the plaque then you don't get calculus build up.

Lots of people don't have calculus, decay, gum disease. There are many factors at play but some people just don't have cariogenic bacteria in their mouth, low sugar diet etc. I would be concerned about any dentist who thought it was that astonishing that someone didn't have plaque on their teeth

I would be concerned about any dentist who thought it was that astonishing that someone didn't have plaque on their teeth

Well, since I've never seen the same dentist twice (other than as a kid, and we didn't go often then because my dad didn't believe in dentists so my mum took us in secret and we weren't allowed to mention it), that's a few you need to be concerned about. All NHS.

Because I don't go regularly I have to rejoin one every time I decide to go for a check up. Must do it soon actually as we get it covered by work.

I definitely don't have a low sugar diet.

I got an ultrasound one off Amazon and it has done an amazing job of removing calculus from between my teeth and brown stains from Dh's. And this is after the dentist had a go and made no difference whatsoever.

I have a sonicare toothbrush and ever since I've not had any dental plaque build-up, although to be fair I don't know if I had any before. But the hygienist always says everything is looking great and my gums are top of the healthiness scale (when they jab with the sharp tool to see if they bleed etc.).