Essentially, tartar is plaque, the soft stuff, that isn't removed in a timely fashion, then it hardens up, probably partly because of the bacterial action.
So yes, you want to keep removing the plaque daily so that you will not have tartar. If you have tartar, then you should get the dentist to remove it. Scaling and polishing the tooth is safe. Then keep it from building up again, yourself.
MH's methods/the Amish would apparently result in the plaque (soft stuff) not forming in the first place, which would mean that tartar would not build up.