Once tartar has formed on your teeth, you cannot remove it at home. Tartar is mineralized plaque, essentially a rock-hard deposit bonded to your enamel, and no amount of brushing, flossing, or scraping with household tools will safely detach it. The only reliable way to get rid of tartar is a professional cleaning by a dentist or dental hygienist. That said, there’s a lot you can do to stop tartar from forming in the first place and to slow its buildup between cleanings.
Why You Can’t Remove Tartar Yourself
Tartar starts as soft, sticky plaque, the film of bacteria that naturally coats your teeth throughout the day. If plaque isn’t brushed or flossed away, minerals in your saliva begin to crystallize within it. This hardening process can begin in as little as four to eight hours, though on average it takes 10 to 12 days for plaque to fully mineralize into tartar. Once that happens, the deposit is chemically bonded to the tooth surface and far too hard for a toothbrush bristle to dislodge.
You may have seen dental scraper kits sold online for at-home use. These are the same sharp, pointed instruments hygienists train for years to use safely, and in untrained hands they carry real risks. You can scratch your enamel (causing lasting sensitivity), cut your gums, injure your cheeks or tongue, or accidentally push tartar beneath the gumline where it triggers infections and gum abscesses. Gum tissue damage from improper scraping can also lead to gum recession, permanently exposing the sensitive roots of your teeth.
What Happens During a Professional Cleaning
A standard dental cleaning targets tartar above the gumline. Your hygienist will use hand scalers, ultrasonic instruments, or both to chip and scrape deposits off your teeth. Ultrasonic scalers vibrate at high frequency and spray a stream of water that helps flush debris away. Research shows hand instruments and ultrasonic tools are equally effective at removing tartar; ultrasonic cleaning tends to be faster and less physically taxing for the hygienist, which can mean a more comfortable visit for you.
If tartar has built up below your gumline, you may need a deeper procedure called scaling and root planing. Your dentist will numb your gums with a local anesthetic, then remove tartar from both above and below the gumline. After scaling, they smooth the root surfaces of your teeth (the “planing” part), which makes it harder for bacteria to reattach and gives your gums a clean surface to heal against. This procedure is typically done in one or two visits, and your gums may be tender for a few days afterward.
How Often You Need a Cleaning
The familiar “every six months” recommendation is a reasonable baseline, but there’s no single schedule that works for everyone. The American Dental Association notes that the research hasn’t reached a consensus on the ideal cleaning frequency for preventing gum disease or cavities. Some people build tartar quickly due to their saliva chemistry, diet, or how well they brush, and may benefit from cleanings every three to four months. Others with minimal buildup can go longer. Your dentist can assess your tartar accumulation rate and recommend a schedule that fits your mouth.
Preventing Tartar Before It Forms
Since removing tartar requires a dental visit, prevention is where your daily habits really pay off. The goal is to disrupt plaque before it has a chance to harden.
- Brush twice a day for two minutes. An electric toothbrush with a rotating or oscillating head tends to remove more plaque than a manual brush, especially along the gumline where tartar often starts.
- Floss daily. Your toothbrush can’t reach the tight spaces between teeth, and those gaps are prime spots for plaque to sit undisturbed long enough to mineralize.
- Use a tartar-control toothpaste. These contain ingredients like pyrophosphates or zinc citrate that interfere with tartar crystal growth. Pyrophosphates work by binding to calcium in your saliva so it can’t deposit onto plaque. Zinc citrate competes with calcium for space on the surface of forming tartar, disrupting its structure. Neither ingredient removes existing tartar, but both can meaningfully slow new buildup.
- Rinse with an antiseptic or antitartar mouthwash. This helps reduce the total bacterial load in your mouth and can reach areas your brush misses.
Diet also plays a role. Sugary and starchy foods feed the bacteria that produce plaque, and frequent snacking gives plaque more opportunities to accumulate between brushings. Drinking water throughout the day helps rinse away food particles and keeps saliva flowing, which naturally buffers acids and washes bacteria off tooth surfaces.
Where Tartar Tends to Build Up
Tartar doesn’t form evenly across your mouth. The most common spots are the backs of your lower front teeth and the outer surfaces of your upper molars, near where your salivary glands empty into your mouth. These areas get a constant supply of mineral-rich saliva, which accelerates the hardening process. Pay extra attention to these zones when brushing, angling your bristles toward the gumline where plaque collects most easily.
Tartar that forms below the gumline is harder to detect on your own. It’s darker in color (often brown or black) and sits in the pockets between your gums and teeth. This subgingival tartar is the more dangerous type because it irritates gum tissue and creates sheltered pockets where bacteria thrive, eventually leading to gum disease and bone loss if left untreated. Regular dental visits catch this buildup before it causes lasting damage.
Signs You Have Tartar Buildup
Tartar above the gumline is visible as a yellowish or brownish crusty deposit, most often along the gumline or between teeth. You can feel it with your tongue as a rough, chalky texture that doesn’t go away after brushing. Other signs that tartar may be accumulating include persistent bad breath, gums that bleed when you brush or floss, and gums that look red or swollen rather than firm and pink.
If you notice any of these signs, a professional cleaning is the straightforward fix. The longer tartar sits on your teeth, the more it irritates your gums and the harder the eventual cleaning will be. Catching it early keeps the process simple, quick, and far more comfortable.