Dental Decay/ Tooth Cavities

Dental Decay/Tooth Cavities

Like most of our diseases, Dental Decay is caused by a combination of contributing factors. Decay causing bacteria, poor diet, and genetic predisposition.

Here is how it happens. You have decay causing bacteria in your mouth. Simple sugars in your diet are their perfect food. It’s easy for them to digest, because the breakdown of simple sugars begins in the mouth. Plaque that builds up on your teeth – sticky soft deposits – acts as an anchoring device to keep the bacteria in place so that they can easily reproduce and multiply. When bacteria digest these sugars, they produce acid. Acid weakens the enamel, and eventually breaking the surface, creating a very tiny hole. Bacteria settle into that little hole and continue to multiply. The hole becomes deeper and deeper and eventually becomes a cavity.

Few things you can do to Prevent Decay

Proper Brushing

By brushing after meals, you remove the food debris that bacteria use as food, and you reduce the acidity, which aids in weakening the enamel. If you can’t brush after each meal, then chew gum, especially gum that has Xylitol as a main ingredient. For example brands like “Mentos Gum” (green or blue bottles only) and “Ice Brakers Gum” have Xylitol as the first ingredient. If you don’t like gum, use mints. At Whole Foods you can find “SPRY Xylitol Mints”. Using these products helps prevent decay.

Fluoride

Fluoride is found in toothpastes, some mouth rinses, and prescription products you can find at your dental office. If you are in the low-risk decay category – meaning, there is no history of decay, you don’t have many fillings, crowns or other dental work, you don’t need to use prescription products. Simple over the counter fluoride toothpaste will be enough.
If you had dental work done to repair previous decay, have crowns and bridges, then you are more susceptible to getting decay and stronger products are needed to keep your teeth staying strong and decay free. Your dental hygienist can let you know if you are at risk and prescribe products that will help you be decay free.

Diet

It’s all about acidity. If you like to eat sweets, and can’t live without them, eat them or drink them all in one sitting. When you expose your teeth to acids once it’s better than doing it constantly throughout the day. Try to brush or chew gum after eating, it helps to stimulate salivary flow to decrease acidity. It would be better for your teeth to avoid things like candy, soda, coffee, tea, cookies, cake… But what kind of life would it be without such goodies.

Just make sure you protect yourself by brushing well, taking care of your cavities if you have them. Don’t wait until they are huge. Decay is an infectious disease. If you have decay causing bacteria it will cause more than one cavity. So take care of cavities as soon as you know you have them. And definitely go for routine cleanings and check-ups to make sure we catch them before they are too big.