> I wonder.  Since low-carb I note that the scraping is less
> intense because there's less plaque.  Even the old "pockets" from
> gum disease have closed a little.

Just had my teeth cleaned today!  My dental hygienist calls me the
"tartar queen" because my mouth just *likes* to form tartar.  But the
part that amazes her is that even though she has to do a lot of
scraping, the stuff isn't stuck on like cement so she doesn't have to
scrape very hard, and since I started a lowcarb diet 2 1/2 years ago,
I don't get any "pockets" anymore.  When I ate carbs, I got the
tartar AND it formed pockets below the gum line.

I know that when my dog (who eats a paleodog diet) gets too many
fresh ground veggies, her teeth start getting brown.  When I keep her
veggies to just a couple tablespoons daily (as opposed to the
suggested 1/4 cup) her teeth begin to whiten again.  From what I
understand, it has to do with the pH in the mouth, and too many
veggies tilt the scale in the wrong direction.  But a dog's saliva
is more acidic that a human's to begin with.  I don't know if there
is a veggie/carb connection for humans.

Lisa Sporleder
Ester, Alaska  (but it won't keep me from eating the wild raspberries
starting to ripen on my property!!)