Talk:Dental plaque

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Orachang.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:19, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

About Plaque

This must be one of the most uninformative articles on Wikipedia I've ever read. It leaves me with so many questions.

I've read on other pages that plaque cannot live in the presence of antibacterial products (ie. chlorophyll, etc). Chlorophyll tablets are now used in the maintenance of oral care of pets.

Also, I am wondering if tartar is the "dead" plaque that have died?

Introduction change

Removal of the paragraphs here. Checked the contents of the reference does not correlate to the sentence. Also incorrect and irrelevant information to dental plaque.

Also removed what microorganisms were present in plaque as this is explained further in the article.Themolarbear (talk) 20:03, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

How to parse this paragraph?

It is a protein film that forms on the surface enamel by selective binding of glycoproteins from saliva. It is protective to the tooth from the acids produced by oral microorganisms after consuming the available carbohydrates. It is also a means for the microorganisms to attach to the tooth and form what is called Dental plaque.

I have removed this paragraph from the article because I could not understand what it referred to. It came just after the sentence saying Plaque build ups can also become mineralised and form calculus. What is "it"? Dental plaque again? If so, then the paragraph was quite badly placed... but judging from what I read in the preceeding parts of the article, the paragraph must be referring to something else.

Someone qualified please clean up.

LjL 22:48, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Plaque formation

We have added in the six steps associated with the formation of dental plaque. We have tried to be specific as well as simple with the description. Please advise us if this is too complex or if anyone can't understand certain parts of this section. Themolarbear (talk) 11:15, 25 March 2015 (UTC)

Image

Image doesn't illustrate the plaque. What can be seen in image is calculus. That increase misconception that calculus is plaque. If analogy is allowed than may be say that plaque is a live "ocean", calculus is died "corals" on the bottom of the "ocean". Some adequate illustration will help. 193.230.176.7 20:23, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. Image should be modified. - Dozenist talk 22:41, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

It's difficult, because plaque is difficult to see unless it’s stained. You can stain plaque by chewing red disclosing tablets. Image can remain to illustrate the conscience of plague. We need the schematic draw to illustrate plague and some explanation in the text.Feel 23:13, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

and stupidly, the problem is that there is not much visible plaque. Plaque of course can be visible, and even though I took the current picture that is up, a better picture should be found. - Dozenist talk 02:08, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Copy & Pasting

[Origin of Information] [Terms and Conditions]

Can any Mod/Admin confirm that this article does not breach the Terms and Conditions of this site. As parts of the article is copy and pasted from the original article. And anyone qualified to modify the section to suit the copyright --Silent Assassin 03:39, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

I've removed a similar edit that was a direct copy/paste from the cited source. S. Ugarte (talk) 03:16, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Promotional editing

There appears to be a campaign by Wrigley's gum to promote chewing sugar free gum as a healthy way to look after teeth. See edits by 195.216.25.222 and Ellielancaster. Ellielancaster added this edit to this article. The claim may be true, but because of conflict of interest and POV concerns it needs checking by neutral editors and reinserting only if sources and appropriate weight merit. Thanks. -- Siobhan Hansa 13:23, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

This is true - sugarfree gum does reduce the risk of caries but only because it stimulates the flow of saliva. Also, the high content of xylitol or wood sugar replaces more harmful sugars such as sucrose or glucose and acidogenic bacteria find it difficult to metabolise - see page here xylitol.Dr-G - Illigetimi non carborundum est. 16:37, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

I checked in with Wikiproject dentistry and was given to understand that while there are some benefits, they are pretty limited and in no way equivalent to those provided by brushing and flossing. Since this appears to be a determined campaign by a for-profit gum and candy manufacturer, my concern is that we ensure that any claims are treated with appropriate weight so that we do become an unwitting advocate for what might otherwise be un-notable results. I'm not trying say we shouldn't mention it under any circumstances if it would otherwise be in the article. Just recommending that any inclusion be made by regular editors who don't have a conflict of interest as they would if Wrigley's did not appear to be promoting the concept. -- Siobhan Hansa 17:44, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

You are right and I didn't really answer your questions. Chewing gum DOES NOT form a part of an oral hygiene program nor does it significantly reduce plaque. Therefore I would take it out of this article. In fact, some eminent periodontist have suggested that chewing gum can be detrimental if done excessively as it can overload the teeth over time causing bone loss. If you want to take it out, I am agreed. Also, I am a member of the WikiProject Dentistry :) Dr-G - Illigetimi non carborundum est. 19:21, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Removal

Explain what methods there are for removal of it, how to get rid of it... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Frap (talk • contribs).

Contraction of plaque

This article should include information about how plaque is first contracted by an individual during infancy: from food, or contact with others, etc.? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 142.204.31.41 (talk)

I would also like to see the typical bacterial species in plaque. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.65.81.232 (talk) 04:15, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Origin of plaque

Before June 27, the article stated that plaque is formed by immune system to defend itself from bacteria and it cites a page. I, 70.178.5.124 (nanotech.republika.pl), thought that this is unsubstantiated enough and illogical. Any surface is going to be covered with bacteria if possible. Bacteria is using a biofilm method to colonize a hard to colonize surface (for example, hard to attach to surface) and not the other way round: the host is using a biofilm method to defend against colonization. You can't defend with a method against the same method. Think also about another example, bacteria may colonize a surface of an underwater stone in river. River is not defending itself by creating the bacterial biofilm structure. In fact biofilm will break apart and travel to other parts of the system (river or human organism) to spread itself. It is hard to see how an organism can benefit from such a travelling infestation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.178.5.124 (talk) 03:15, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Taxonomy

Taxonomic names of organisms should always be written in the form Genus species. Genus is always capitalized. I think this change should be made for "streptococcus mutans," so it reads "Streptococcus mutans." I will let someone else make the change if they believe it appropriate.

RVM —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.191.183.154 (talk) 05:31, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

This has been done, along with a wikilink to Streptococcus mutans and the introduction of italics, per the WP:ITALICS MOS guideline for typesetting such names. 68.227.235.117 (talk) 05:28, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Oral Microbiota = Oral Cavity?

The third paragraph in the lead says that "The human oral cavity is also called the human oral microbiota." The microbiota is the ecosystem of bacteria that live in the mouth, not the oral cavity itself. I do not get how this makes any sense. Is this an error that needs to be corrected? Busukxuan (talk) 07:30, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

We have deleted this paragraph as we found it confusing as well. To make it more simple we are going to define the oral cavity, as the oral cavity. Simple is better Themolarbear (talk) 09:01, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Student involvement

Hi all, we are a group of Oral Health Therapist students from Australia. We have been asked to contribute/ edit/ improve this page as part of a subject in our final year. We will put any potential edits under this heading in the talk page for a few day's or a week prior to editing the wiki page for anyone to comment on or provide feedback. We are fairly new at editing wiki pages so any feedback from those more experienced is welcomed. Ajeverett (talk) 08:10, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

To date we have begun editing the page with the aim to add more relevant images to aid in understanding of the content. We are also looking at tweaking the definition of plaque, adding several subheadings including brief discussions on related dental diseases and general tweaking with the aim of making the page accessible and understandable to the general public who are viewing the page. Again we are happy to discuss any changes and welcome any positive or negative feedback. Here are the list of our pages if you would like to contact us. User:Ajeverett, User:dentalk, User:Themolarbear, User:dentalmp and User:Sammyg17691480

Good stuff! You are obviously being WP:Bold which is good and I'm sure you'll have a good impact. Please can you try to add edit summaries for all your edits (there is a box for this just below where you type your edits) as this helps others to understand what you have done and why (e.g. removing sourced content as you did here looks rather odd). Also, references are good so do add them where you can especially for content you add as I'm sure you have textbooks if online sources are not available. Lineslarge (talk) 19:54, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Thank you User:Lineslarge, we'll make sure to keep an update on what we'll be doing to the pages. Most of the page will be changed on a Tuesday when we meet up as a group and discuss the changes we want to make. Thank you for the feedback as well. We appreciate all the help we can get as we are slightly new to the set up for this page. Cheers Themolarbear (talk) 06:01, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Treatment section has issues

Many studies have supported the fact that mouthwash containing alcohol might not be the best option.

Are any of these studies the ones referenced in this article, if so can we make it clearer which studies support this? I'd request we find that information or remove the sentence.

It should be rephrased to be clearer, I think it's vague and too ambiguous what is meant by "might not be the best option."

Without knowing what the studies say it could be interpreted as a claim that alcohol mouthwash is harmful/has negative effects or as a statement of it being less effective. What is meant by "best" needs to be made clear and I'd propose we do that by potentially adding another sentence or two that explains what is meant there, including information from the studies mentioned, or that it be reworded to be specific.

As it currently exists, the treatment section puts undue weight on oil containing mouthwash, it consists of the overwhelming majority of the section & goes into a level of detail that I think would be appropriate if it was not the only thing getting that detail. If many studies go into information on other treatment options such as alcohol containing products, they should be addressed. There's also only one mention of other mouth hygiene treatments & it's only in comparison to the benefits of oil containing mouthwash.

Cbrfield (talk) 03:49, 29 March 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: The Microbiology of College Life

This article is currently the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 January 2024 and 6 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Lm843 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Lm843 (talk) 05:19, 15 April 2024 (UTC)