What's the word for "tiny pieces of food stuck in between teeth"?
Is there a word that describes the tiny pieces of food that gets stuck in between your teeth after eating, and that you get rid of by brushing?
According to Mosby's Dental Dictionary and as suggested by Jim in the comments, the term is food debris:
Particles of food remaining in the mouth after eating which collect in tooth crevices and between the teeth and may contribute to the formation of dental caries.
A proper answer (food debris) has already been given; not right, but related, and suitable for extreme circumstances, is gobbet:
- a quantity of liquid, often in a sticky blotch
- a lump or chunk of something, especially of raw meat
In informal use, I believe there is not a specific word for this. Most people would just say "I/you have something stuck between your teeth."
This is a case where a specific word i.e. spinach is a better substitute because we really don't want to know what the gunk or glop really is. Typically language prefers the specific but in this case, the general is aesthetically superior.