Litmus
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It is easy to collect plaque from gum margins of front teeth or between teeth on one end of a strip of blue litmus paper or other suitable pH indicating paper.
Dip one end of the indicating paper in sugar solution and it remains blue indicating it is neutral and not acid.
Put the strip inside food wrap and place in the arm-pit to keep at body temperature for 10 minutes before looking at it. Note that the plaque has changed the sugar to acid indicated by turning pink. Other indicating papers may be even more visual.
Even though most plaque can be seen with food dye at gum margins of smooth accessible surfaces, few cavities occur where the brush, fluoride and saliva have easy access to remove plaque, food, and neutralise acid and repair demineralised tooth after eating.
Most food is trapped between teeth compared to that trapped inside grooves on chewing surfaces yet over 80% of cavities occur inside grooves. |
