Custom Tables

I am looking to create a custom plugin that will require custom database tables. I have looked through the wpdb class and found the following:

Can I, or should I and How do I add my tables to the $ms_global_tables array through my plugin (as not to modify the core code).

Can I simply
$wpdb->ms_global_tables['My_table_name'] = $base_prefix . $table;

Or is there a better way to be able to have WP recognize my tables automatically? I want to use the class as best as possible and avoid having to write lots of sql (although I am quite capable).

I thank you in advance! 🙂