Once tartar has formed on your teeth, you cannot safely remove it at home. Tartar is mineralized plaque, essentially a calcium phosphate deposit that bonds to tooth enamel, and it requires professional dental tools to remove without damaging your teeth or gums. That said, there’s a lot you can do to prevent tartar from forming in the first place and to keep existing buildup from getting worse.
Why Tartar Can’t Be Brushed Away
Plaque is a soft, sticky film of bacteria, food particles, and saliva that coats your teeth throughout the day. A toothbrush can remove plaque effectively. But if plaque sits on your teeth for about two weeks without being disturbed, minerals in your saliva (mainly calcium and phosphate) crystallize within it, turning it into a hard deposit called calculus, or tartar. This process is similar to how minerals in water create limescale on a faucet. Once that crystallization happens, the deposit is physically bonded to your tooth surface and far too hard for bristles or floss to dislodge.
How to Tell If You Have Tartar
Plaque is colorless and invisible to the naked eye. Tartar is not. Look for yellow or brown discoloration along your gumline, especially on the inside of your lower front teeth and the outside of your upper molars (these areas sit closest to salivary glands, which supply the minerals that harden plaque). You can also feel tartar: run your tongue along your teeth, and if the surface feels rough or gritty rather than smooth, that texture is likely calcified buildup. Some people describe the sensation as their teeth “wearing sweaters.”
What Happens at a Professional Cleaning
Dentists and dental hygienists use two main approaches to remove tartar. Manual scaling involves thin, curved metal instruments that fit between the tooth and gumline. The hygienist uses precise pressure and angle to scrape calculus off the tooth surface, including in tight spaces and complex root shapes where deposits like to hide.
Ultrasonic scalers take a different approach. These vibrating instruments create a cavitation effect, using rapid vibrations and a water spray to break tartar apart and flush debris away. Ultrasonic scaling is effective at reducing pocket depth around teeth where tartar has built up below the gumline. Most cleanings use a combination of both methods.
If tartar has spread significantly below the gumline, your dentist may recommend a deeper procedure called scaling and root planing. This involves cleaning the root surfaces of your teeth and smoothing them so gum tissue can reattach. It’s typically done with local numbing and may take more than one visit.
Why DIY Scraping Is Risky
Dental scalers are widely sold online, and it’s tempting to try scraping tartar off yourself. This is a genuinely bad idea for several reasons. Without training, you can scratch your enamel, which causes permanent tooth sensitivity. You can cut or tear gum tissue, leading to pain, bleeding, and gum recession that exposes sensitive root surfaces. You can injure your cheeks or tongue. Perhaps worst of all, you can accidentally push tartar beneath the gumline, which can trap bacteria and lead to gum abscesses or infections. Professional hygienists spend years learning the correct angles, pressure, and technique for a reason.
Home Remedies That Don’t Work
Baking soda, vinegar, coconut oil pulling, and activated charcoal are all commonly suggested online as tartar removers. None of them can dissolve or dislodge mineralized calcium phosphate from your teeth. The American Dental Association specifically does not recommend oil pulling for removing plaque or tartar. Baking soda is mildly abrasive and can help remove surface stains and soft plaque during brushing, but it won’t touch hardened deposits. Vinegar and acidic solutions can actually erode enamel, making your teeth more vulnerable to decay and future buildup.
How to Prevent Tartar From Forming
Since you have roughly a two-week window before plaque mineralizes, consistent daily cleaning is your most powerful tool. Brushing twice a day removes the soft plaque that would otherwise harden. Flossing or using interdental brushes cleans the surfaces between teeth where a toothbrush can’t reach, and these tight spaces are common sites for tartar buildup.
Tartar-control toothpastes contain ingredients that slow down the crystallization process. The most common active compounds are pyrophosphates (tetrasodium pyrophosphate or disodium pyrophosphate), which work by disrupting the formation of calcium phosphate crystals. They won’t remove existing tartar, but they can reduce how quickly new deposits form. Some formulas also include zinc citrate for additional mineral-blocking effects. Look for the ADA Seal of Acceptance on the packaging, which confirms the product has been tested for the claims on its label.
Where tartar forms also depends on your individual biology. Your saliva’s mineral content plays a major role. People whose saliva is more saturated with calcium and phosphate tend to build tartar faster, even with good brushing habits. This is partly why some people develop heavy tartar despite diligent oral care while others rarely do. If you’re a fast tartar former, more frequent professional cleanings (every four to six months rather than once a year) can keep deposits from progressing.
Why Removal Matters
Tartar above the gumline is mostly a cosmetic nuisance and a surface for new plaque to cling to. Tartar below the gumline is a different story. Subgingival tartar harbors bacteria in an environment your toothbrush will never reach. Over time, this triggers chronic inflammation that causes gum tissue to pull away from the teeth, forming deepening pockets. As bacteria colonize those pockets, they can destroy the bone and tissue structures supporting your teeth. This progression, from gingivitis to periodontitis, is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Tartar removal isn’t just about keeping teeth looking clean. It’s about preserving the bone that holds them in place.