Maintaining good oral hygiene is recommended. It ensures that your teeth and gums stay healthy, fresh, and clean. So, if you are dealing with tartar buildup and for one reason or the other can’t go to the dentist, read on, let’s help you remove tartar from your teeth without a dentist.
Some of the most effective ways to remove tartar from your teeth without visiting the dentist include brushing regularly with tartar removal toothpaste while flossing and investing in interdental brushes. In addition to this, you can also consider using DIY home remedies like baking soda, white vinegar, aloe vera mix, sesame seeds, orange peels, coconut oil, guava fruit, or its leaves.
In this guide, we have put together the most effective ways to remove tartar from the comfort of your home without a dentist.
How to Identify Tartar?
Before we go any further in this article, it is important we make sure you know what dental problem you are dealing with. For this reason, in this section, we’d answer the question, what is tartar? Additionally, we’ll also show you how to identify tartar signs and help you distinguish them from other dental problems.
What is Tartar?
Tartar, sometimes called dental calculus, is the accumulation of hardened plaque and minerals from your saliva. Plaque refers to the thin layer surrounding our teeth and the gum line after every meal.
When meals come in contact with the plaque-causing bacteria in your mouths, they form plaques and an accumulation leads to a tartar build-up in your mouth. This can cause periodontal diseases like gingivitis, tooth decay, and in extreme situations, tooth loss.
So, if you have ever noticed a yellowish stain around your teeth and rough edges close to the gum line, those are signs of tartar build-up and may be accompanied by swelling.
Although this issue is common in people who have poor dental hygiene, other factors like stress, age, dry mouth, and other underlying health issues can increase the risk of tartar buildup. This is why it is best that you have a routine appointment with a dentist to help you limit this risk.
Furthermore, tartar may not always appear as a yellowish stain. Sometimes, they can take the form of a black or brown mark accompanied by itchiness, bleeding, tooth sensitivity and cavities, and even bad breath.
Essentially, you must confirm that it is indeed a tartar build-up in your mouth before you seek out remedies.
Common Signs of Tartar Buildup
Below are the common signs you should look out for to confirm a tartar accumulation.
- Hard feeling at the back of your teeth
- A yellowish, brownish, or tan color.
How does this affect your oral health?
If you have signs of tartar and do not take care of it, here are some challenging problems you will face.
- Periodontal disease
- Receding gums
- Cavities
- Bone loss
- Bad breath.
It is best to take care of a tartar buildup immediately after you notice it to avoid making it harder to clean up.
9 Home Remedies for Removing Tartar without the Dentist
Tartar is not so easy to remove. It is best that you avoid getting to this stage but if you do, no worries, there are some remedies you can try even if you do not wish to see a doctor.
1. Using Tartar Removal Toothpaste to Brush Your Teeth
Depending on the extent of the tartar accumulation, you might be able to get rid of this problem by using a specifically formulated tartar removal toothpaste while brushing.
Brushing with regular toothpaste alone is never enough, making this specially formulated tartar removal toothpaste a necessity if you want to tackle this problem. It contains pyrophosphates and fluoride that help are essential in taking care of the problem.
In addition, we advise that you consider using an electric toothbrush for this purpose because research has found that these electrically powered toothbrushes, especially the oscillating–rotating brushes work better in eliminating oral contamination.
2. Brushing with Baking Soda
Baking Soda is also called sodium bicarbonate. It helps eliminate tartar buildup by softening the tartar accumulation while balancing the bacterial acid in your mouth responsible for tartar building up to prevent more accumulation.
Since baking soda is mildly abrasive, its ability to scrub hard surfaces is well known.
To apply baking soda to get rid of tartar all you only need to do is sprinkle a little baking soda on your damp toothbrush and scrub for 2-3 minutes.
Alternatively, you can mix a baking soda and water solution and dip your toothbrush inside the mix before scrubbing. You may also decide to add fluoride toothpaste to soften the harsh taste of the baking soda.
For extra effect, leave the rest of your baking soda and water mixture on your teeth for about 15 minutes before rinsing off. Be careful not to scrub too hard or use too much baking soda to avoid causing damage to your tooth enamel.
3. White Vinegar Rinse
White vinegar, in this regard, works as a DIY mouthwash that works by demineralizing tartar accumulation. All you have to do is add two teaspoons of white vinegar to a cup of water with a pinch of salt and gargle the mixture.
Although the taste is unpleasant, the vinegar’s antibacterial properties will help you soften the tartar in your teeth. It is best to do this immediately after brushing before the tartar hardens up.
4. Flossing/Using Interdental Brushes
No matter how many times or how well you brush, the truth is that your regular brush cannot reach all the corners and surfaces of your teeth, which means brushing alone is not a hundred percent effective when you need to remove the build-up of tartar by yourself.
Flossing regularly will help you reach the stubborn places around your teeth and help you eliminate any build-up of tartar.
To take this method a step further, there are interdental brushes to reach these otherwise tight spaces around your teeth.
These interdental brushes take the form of a mascara wand, so they can go in between the spaces in your teeth and around your gum, ensuring you can get rid of tartar in those corners.
5. Glycerine and Aloe Vera Mix
Aloe Vera has multiple benefits and one of them includes helping with your oral hygiene. For the best results, create a mix by mixing a teaspoon of aloe vera gel with no less than four teaspoons of glycerine, a common ingredient in toothpaste.
Once completed, take this mix and add a few drops of lemon essential oil and mix the result with water. The next step is to apply this mixture to your teeth using a dry toothbrush and wait a few minutes before you rinse the mixture.
6. Using Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds are quite effective for removing tartar from your teeth. These seeds hold a high calcium level, a mineral famous for aiding good oral hygiene and strengthening the tooth enamel.
All you need to do is take a few sesame seeds and chew them for a little while until they are completely mushed. Once this is done, take a dry toothbrush and use the mush in your mouth as a paste.
Ensure you use the toothbrush to spread the mush to every corner of your mouth. Do this for 2-3 minutes before you rinse off and you should repeat this routine daily for the best results.
7. Using Orange Peels
Orange peels contain vitamin C, which makes them acidic by nature, and this will help to gently dissolve the tartar build-up in your mouth if you use it consistently.
For application, you have two options. You may decide to rub the inner part of the orange peel directly on your teeth or mash the peel with little water and mix until it forms a paste, then apply it on your teeth and brush.
Either way, if you repeat this process at least three times weekly, you will notice that the tartar in your mouth will soften and reduce significantly.
8. Applying Coconut Oil
This may not sound like a conventional way to eliminate tartar, but you will be surprised to discover that coconut oil possesses antibacterial and antioxidants that help to battle the bacteria in your mouth. This method is commonly called oil pulling, similar to how mouthwash works.
To apply this DIY solution, you only need to take a teaspoon of warm coconut oil and swish it around your mouth for a few minutes before you spit it out. We advise spitting into a rag or paper towel as oil may clog your drain if you spit it directly.
Alternatively, you can use other essential oils like sesame oil, almond oil, or olive oil using this same process to achieve the same results.
9. Chewing Guava Fruit/Leaves
By simply chewing guava leaves or fruits for two minutes or more, any tartar buildup in your mouth can be eliminated naturally. This is because of the acidic content of the fruit that not only eliminates tartar but also relieves inflamed and painful gums.
If you do not want to chew the leaf or the fruit, you can cut the guava fruit into smaller bits, add a pinch of salt and bite it, and leave for a few minutes before rinsing it off.
Final Thoughts
While these methods may be effective in helping you get rid of tartar accumulation, depending on the extent of the tartar buildup, you might still need to visit a dentist certified by the dental association of your state or country.
They have access to tools, devices, resources, and experience that will be useful, especially if you could not get rid of the tartar buildup using these home remedies.
