Emolio GamesPlaque Attack
Every snack starts an acid attack. Brush the bacteria away and let saliva rebuild your teeth.
A two-minute game about how teeth defend themselves. After sugar, the plaque on your teeth turns acidic and pulls minerals out of the enamel. Saliva then buffers the acid and puts calcium and phosphate back. Keep the acid short, the bacteria few, and the repair time long.
▶ PlayHow to play
- Tap or click bacteria to brush them off the teeth.
- Watch the acid meter: every snack sends it up. Past the white line (pH 5.5), teeth with bacteria lose minerals.
- When the acid calms down, saliva refills the mineral bars.
- Chew gum for a saliva boost, and rinse with water to wash sugar away.
- A white spot can still recover. At zero minerals the tooth gets a cavity.
What you learn
- Tooth decay starts when bacteria in the mouth make acids that attack the tooth surface, the enamel. [NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay]
- The bacteria make that acid from sugars and starches in food and drinks. [NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay]
- Enamel is about 96% mineral: tiny crystals of hydroxyapatite, made of calcium and phosphate. [The Remineralization of Enamel from Saliva: A Chemical Perspective (2024)]
- Saliva carries calcium and phosphate, the building blocks the body uses to rebuild enamel mineral. [The Remineralization of Enamel from Saliva: A Chemical Perspective (2024)]
- After sugar, the plaque on your teeth turns acidic within a minute. Saliva brings it back to normal in 20 to 40 minutes. [UK Government, Delivering Better Oral Health, ch. 10: Healthier eating]
- Below a pH of about 5.5, the mineral crystals in enamel start to dissolve. [Today's RDH: Tooth remineralization agents, an evidence-based review]
- Eating sugar often keeps the plaque acidic for long periods, leaving teeth little time to repair. [UK Government, Delivering Better Oral Health, ch. 10: Healthier eating]
- Saliva flow rises at mealtimes and is much lower during sleep. [UK Government, Delivering Better Oral Health, ch. 10: Healthier eating]
- The first sign of decay is a white spot, which can still recover. If more minerals are lost than restored, the enamel breaks down into a cavity. [NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay]
- Chewing sugar-free gum makes more saliva. In a 2007 review, 7 of 9 studies found fewer cavities with sugar-free gum, especially right after meals. [Mickenautsch et al. 2007: Sugar-free chewing gum and dental caries, a systematic review]
- WHO advises keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy, and preferably below 5% (about 25 grams a day), to limit tooth decay. [FDI World Dental Federation: Dietary free sugars and dental caries]
- Streptococcus mutans, one of the main bacteria linked to tooth decay, grows as chains of tiny round cells. [Wikipedia: Streptococcus mutans]
- Untreated tooth decay in permanent teeth is the most common health condition in the world; oral diseases affect nearly 3.7 billion people. [WHO fact sheet: Oral health]
Myth or fact?
Only sugar causes tooth decay.
Myth. Starches feed the bacteria too: they make acid from both. [NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay]
Very early tooth decay can still recover.
Fact. At the white-spot stage, minerals from saliva can rebuild the enamel. A cavity does not grow back. [NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay]
How often you snack doesn't matter, only how much.
Myth. Every snack starts a new acid attack of 20 to 40 minutes, so frequent snacking leaves almost no time for repair. [UK Government, Delivering Better Oral Health, ch. 10: Healthier eating]
Xylitol prevents cavities.
Not proven. A 2015 Cochrane review found too little reliable evidence to say whether xylitol products prevent tooth decay. [Riley et al. 2015, Cochrane: Xylitol-containing products for preventing dental caries]
Oil pulling can replace brushing.
Not proven. The few trials are small and short. They hint at a little less plaque, but nothing shows it can replace brushing. [Gbinigie et al. 2016: Oil pulling for oral hygiene, a systematic review]
- The bacteria in the game are giant and glow. Real ones are about a thousandth of a millimetre.
- Time runs fast: real acid recovery takes 20 to 40 minutes, the game squeezes it into seconds.
- The Chew gum and Water buttons, their timers and the scores are game mechanics.
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- NIDCR (NIH): Tooth Decay
- UK Government, Delivering Better Oral Health, ch. 10: Healthier eating
- The Remineralization of Enamel from Saliva: A Chemical Perspective (2024)
- Today's RDH: Tooth remineralization agents, an evidence-based review
- Mickenautsch et al. 2007: Sugar-free chewing gum and dental caries, a systematic review
- FDI World Dental Federation: Dietary free sugars and dental caries
- WHO fact sheet: Oral health
- Wikipedia: Streptococcus mutans
- Riley et al. 2015, Cochrane: Xylitol-containing products for preventing dental caries
- Gbinigie et al. 2016: Oil pulling for oral hygiene, a systematic review