Dental Cavities Care – Tooth Decay Prevention

In earlier articles, we discussed the key elements that make up tooth decay and cavities. Now, we can look into pH balance and the different types of cavities there are and what you can do to prevent them. Stop tooth decay before it gets to be a big problem.

If you didn’t eat, you wouldn’t have to worry about tooth decay. Of course, that’s impossible. Since we eat every day and sometimes the foods we choose aren’t the best decisions for our teeth.

When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks it down as sugars like sucrose, fructose, dextrose, glucose and maltrose. If you eat fermentable carbohydrates, they will start to break down in your mouth instead of the digestive tract where most foods start to break down. Sugary drinks, crackers, candy, cake, cookies and cereal are all fermentable carbohydrates and can cause problems for your teeth.

When sugar from the food interacts with the bacteria already in your mouth, there are an array of acids that are produced. These acids will make your mouth more acidic and cause a drop in the pH level. If the pH drops below 5.5, the minerals inside the teeth will start to dissolve. This process is called demineralization.

The loss of minerals in the teeth will weaken the teeth. The damage will continue as long as your mouth stays at or below the 5.5 pH level. You will need to get your mouth to return to neutral level to around 6.2 and 7.0 and the easiest way to fix the problem is to brush your teeth. Some of the bacteria in your mouth feed off of sugar and the bacteria will produce more and more acid.

As soon as the demineralization takes hold, you will have tooth decay in your mouth. You can start remineralization with your mouth by adding fluoride and saliva which will help restore your teeth. If you don’t treat your teeth right away, you will be able to see decay on the exact spot where the plaque occurs. Once the decay spreads to the enamel, you can’t reverse the damage. Once this happens, you officially have a cavity.

Food particles can get in the teeth and cause pain once you have a break in the enamel. After this happens, you will most likely see a trip to the dentist in your future. You can have a dentist who will clear away the debris and the decay in the tooth and then fill in the cavity. If you don’t get the cavity cleared, the decay will continue to spread more and more until it reaches the pump and the nerves.

There are proper names for a cavity, which is technically called an acute caries. A large cavity can develop in just a few months. In children, enamel is weaker than in adults. Even young adults are more prone to cavities than adults. Even when older people get cavities, they take longer to develop. Decay can form in the roots and the root cavities will grow. For this reason, adults can have a lot of root cavities. Decay will form even after you have had your cavity or crown filled. These cavities are called recurring decay.

         

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