What is Materia Alba?
Materia Alba is a soft chalky white deposit on the tooth surface. It’s primarily composed of bacteria, salivary proteins, epithelial cells, and food debris. It is not a well-organized structure like dental plaque. Materia Alba on teeth it is looks like a curd or cheesy material on teeth.
Materia Alba can be viewed through the naked eye and is soft enough to easily be removed at home with water spray and regular tooth brushing.
Let’s see how the Materia Alba is different from the Plaque and Calculus.
Materia Alba vs Plaque vs Calculus
Here we have explained the difference between Materia Alba, Plaque, and Calculus in tabular format.
| Materia Alba | Plaque | Calculus |
| It is a soft chalky deposit on the tooth surface that looks like curd or cheese | It is yellow-grayish in color and tightly adhered to the tooth surface. | It is a hard substance, forms on the tooth surface due to the mineralization of plaque. |
| It is composed of bacteria, salivary proteins, epithelial cells, and food debris. | It is composed of salivary glycoproteins, lipids, polysaccharides, bacteria and nonbacterial microorganisms like yeast, viruses, etc., and minerals. | It is mostly composed of minerals and covered by unmineralized dental plaque. |
| It is not a complex and well-organized structure like Plaque and Calculus. | It is a complex and well-organized structure. | It is a very complex and well-organized structure. |
| It can be removed through water spray, and normal toothbrushing and flossing. | It cannot be removed through water spray. Proper tooth brushing and flossing is required to remove plaque. (flossing first before brushing teeth is recommended) | It cannot be removed through water sprays or regular tooth brushing and flossing. It requires professional cleaning also known as Tooth Scaling and Root Planing at a dental clinic. |
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