Plaque Attack

Plaque Attack is a 1983 video game for the Atari 2600 that was made by Activision. Loosely based on Space Invaders, the player must prevent food from destroying teeth in a person's mouth. Steve Cartwright, who designed the game, said that game was meant to help people develop good dental habits.

In this game, the player is a toothpaste tube, and there are eight teeth to defend. Various types of food, such as hamburgers and french fries try to take out the teeth. The player fires toothpaste at food intent on destroying the teeth. If the food is allowed to touch a tooth, it begins breaking down the tooth. If the player is fast enough to shoot the piece of food as soon as it starts breaking down the tooth the player will be able to save the tooth. If not, the tooth will be broken down. The food comes in waves, and the movements become more complicated. Destroying the food scores points, as does the number of teeth left at the end of each wave, and the amount of toothpaste

After a certain amount of points is scored, users gain bonus teeth. Bonus teeth are applied at the end of each wave. If all eight teeth are still present, the additional teeth will be placed on the sides of the mouth. Otherwise the teeth will replace any teeth lost. Play continues until all the teeth are gone, at which point the game is over.

Skilled Plaque Attack players who scored more than 35,000 points could send a screenshot of their accomplishment to Activision, which would send a promotional patch and congratulatory letter to the player. In addition to the popular game a new product for canine oral care marketed as Plaque Attack is now being researched by dog nutrition organizations.