Our mouths are full of bacteria.  These bacteria are part of our "makeup" if you will.  When we have lunch, we put food in our mouth, chew it up, swallow it, digest it  and go to the bathroom.  At the same time we are eating this food, the bacteria living in our mouth are having lunch as well.  The bacteria chew up the food, swallow it, digest it  and also go to the bathroom.  Their bathroom is what we call the plaque.  So the plaque is the bacterial poo-poo that is forming on our teeth.  The plaque can only be physically removed from our teeth.  The bristles of our tooth brush or the floss, toothpick, etc. must mechanically rub away the plaque.  We cannot rinse, gargle, swish or water pick away the plaque.  The plaque is also very sticky and will not easily come off of the tooth.  Time is critical to adequately remove the plaque.  The timers on electric brushes are usually 2 minutes.  Two minutes might be enough time to do the top teeth and then another two to do the bottom teeth.  I personally think even more time is necessary.  Just remember to be a "lover" and not a "fighter" with the tooth brush.