I have a question about tonsil stones.

I started getting them for the first time in my life about 5 years ago. I had no idea they were there, I just thought it was a persistent sore throat until they grew enough to start popping out of there on their own (gross, I know).

For the next 4 years, they were a regular occurrence. I would use a cotton swab to clean out my tonsils about once per week on average.

However, about a year ago, they stopped appearing. Nowadays, I only clean my tonsils about once per month, and even then there is barely any compared to before.

So, what exactly causes tonsil stones? My diet hasn't changed much, I just eat less of the same stuff. Nothing else has really changed, either. They did slowly stop as I lost weight, though.