What is the difference between plaque and calculus?

What is the difference between plaque and calculus?

• A. Calculus is bacteria only.
• B. Plaque is a soft biofilm; calculus is mineralized plaque.
• C. Plaque is mineralized; calculus is soft biofilm.
• D. Both are the same substance.

Answer: (B)

The difference lies in mineral content and texture. Plaque is a soft, sticky biofilm of bacteria and their matrix that forms on teeth within hours and can be removed with brushing and flossing. If plaque isn’t cleaned, minerals from saliva deposit into it and it hardens into calculus (tartar). Calculus is mineralized plaque, a rigid, adherent deposit that can’t be brushed away and usually requires professional scaling to remove. So plaque is soft biofilm; calculus is the mineralized form of that biofilm.

The difference lies in mineral content and texture. Plaque is a soft, sticky biofilm of bacteria and their matrix that forms on teeth within hours and can be removed with brushing and flossing. If plaque isn’t cleaned, minerals from saliva deposit into it and it hardens into calculus (tartar). Calculus is mineralized plaque, a rigid, adherent deposit that can’t be brushed away and usually requires professional scaling to remove. So plaque is soft biofilm; calculus is the mineralized form of that biofilm.