That’s right, tooth decay is the most common disease worldwide, which comes as a shock to most people. It doesn’t discriminate and can affect anyone at any age. Although tooth decay might not usually be life-threatening, it can be unpleasantly painful and can mean time off work or school. The cost of treating severe tooth decay can also be an issue.
Generally, tooth decay is treated by drilling and filling the affected tooth with a suitable restorative material. However, over the past few decades, dentists have learned much more about tooth decay, which is a preventable disease.
How Does Tooth Decay Begin?
Most people know how tooth decay begins, and usually, it is because of sugars in your diet. When you eat something containing sugar or which is starchy, this feeds bacteria naturally present in the mouth. Feeding the bacteria allows them to thrive and increase their numbers, and as they feed, they release acids. The acid softens tooth enamel, leaching away minerals that include calcium and magnesium from this hard outer coating. As the acidity levels in the mouth gradually begin to normalize, the minerals leached from the tooth enamel are deposited back into the tooth, re-hardening it slightly. However, repeated exposure to acids erodes the enamel, causing pits to develop. These pits harbor the bacteria, making it easier for them to thrive, allowing the pits to deepen into cavities.
Generally, the best way to reduce the risk of tooth decay is by removing these harmful bacteria regularly and effectively. The less time these bacteria remain on your teeth and gums, the less chance they have of softening the tooth enamel and gradually eroding it. Another solution is to reduce the amount of sugar consumed. However, even people who do this can still have problems with cavities. People can have a similar diet and hygiene routine, but some may develop cavities regularly while others have no such problems. While it’s easy to put this down to simple bad luck or that someone is more prone to developing cavities, the actual truth may be more complex. Often several factors can increase the risk of developing tooth decay dramatically. One factor that is often overlooked is saliva.
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Saliva and Its Role in Your Oral Health
You take saliva for granted, but it is a remarkable substance. Saliva is a protective fluid that helps your mouth maintain a more neutral pH level. It washes away loose particles of food, excess bacteria and neutralizes acids after meals. Saliva also contains digestive enzymes that help you digest food more easily, so digestion begins in your mouth. Usually, a healthy person produces around two liters of saliva every day, but if you have dry mouth, called xerostomia, this amount can decrease dramatically.
Without enough saliva, harmful bacteria can quickly begin to build up, and the drier conditions allow these bacteria to thrive more easily. There is no longer enough saliva to wash away the excess bacteria and the food particles they feed on, so the risk of tooth decay increases. Having a dry mouth can also be extremely uncomfortable, and especially for anyone who wears dentures or other dental appliances that may begin to rub on the gums.
Why Do People Get Dry Mouth?
There are many reasons why people can get dry mouth, and one of the most common is getting older. As you age, you naturally produce less saliva. Another consequence of aging is the need to take more medications, and certain medications can have side effects, including dry mouth. Some people develop dry mouth because of other medical conditions or medical treatment. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the head and neck area can damage the saliva glands, so they cannot produce enough saliva.
Another main reason for tooth decay is dietary related.
Diet and How It Affects the Risk of Tooth Decay
Each day the average American eats around 23 teaspoons of sugar, far higher than the recommended amount. Also, many people enjoy sweetened beverages which contribute to the risk of tooth decay. Other foods and drinks are naturally acidic, and these acids can attack the tooth enamel, weakening and softening it and gradually causing cavities. These include diet drinks and white wine and foods like tomatoes.
However, often it’s not so much the amount of food consumes as when it is eaten. Nowadays, there is a tendency to grab meals on the go and rely on snacks between meals to keep energy levels high. Every time you eat something containing sugar is or which is naturally acidic, it makes a huge difference to your dental health. Your mouth becomes more acidic, and it remains that way for at least half an hour after you stop eating and drinking. After about 30 minutes, your saliva gradually begins to neutralize the acids, and tooth enamel begins to re-harden. If you frequently snack, your teeth are exposed more often to these harmful acids, increasing the risk of cavities.
How Your Dentist Can Help
When you see your dentist, they can assess your risk of cavities based on a dental examination and review your dental history. Using this information, your dentist can devise a suitable preventive treatment plan to help you maintain strong and healthy teeth that are cavity-free. The plan will tell you how often you should see the dentist for dental exams, normally at six-monthly intervals. You will also learn how often you should have your teeth professionally cleaned by a hygienist. Even if you clean your teeth thoroughly, some dental plaque almost certainly remains on your tooth surfaces and soon hardens into calculus. Dental calculus cannot be removed by regular brushing and flossing and instead must be scaled or scraped away during your dental cleaning. It’s an important appointment that helps you maintain healthy teeth and gums more easily.
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If you have had one or two problems with cavities recently, your dentist may want to review your dietary habits with you to see if you need to make any changes to reduce this risk. For example, if you do snack frequently between meals, they may suggest changing the type of snack to something tooth-friendly like plain yogurt or another calcium-rich snack like cheese.
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