Despite modern advances in dental care, dental caries – more commonly known as cavities or tooth decay – continue to be a problem for many people. It does not need to be. There is a solution for eliminating dental caries. But, as with many things, the solution sounds easier than it is.
The first step is to understand why we get dental caries.
Tooth decay is caused by dental plaque, a layer of bacteria that sometimes feels like fur on your teeth when you awaken in the morning. These bacteria thrive on the nutrients in your mouth and, like all living organisms, they generate waste products. In the case of plaque germs, those waste products are highly acidic following exposure to sugar.
When you eat or drink anything containing any type of sugar, the plaque, much like a sponge, quickly absorbs some of the sugar to produce energy, just as our bodies do. Within moments after ingesting the sugar, these germs begin to release a waste product called lactic acid. Plaque will emit lactic acid for about 20 minutes after a single exposure to sugar. This acid attack is what causes tooth decay – an acidic environment damages the tooth’s enamel and dentin. Logically, that seems to mean you should be able to avoid dental caries by getting rid of either all the germs in your mouth or all the sugar in your diet.
It’s a bit easier said than done! You can’t eliminate all the bacteria, and it is virtually impossible to remove all sugar from your diet. The bacteria in our mouths are not picky about the types or sources of the sugars they consume. Nearly everyone is aware that decay-causing refined sugar is found in such items as sodas, candy, chewing gum and sugar-added drinks. But plaque germs also feed on natural sugars, which occur in sufficient quantity to cause decay in many foods we consider healthy, like fruits, some vegetables, dairy, and whole grain breads and cereals. And, unfortunately, sugar is routinely added to foods like salad dressing, peanut butter, and even spaghetti sauce.
As if that weren’t tricky enough, the real problem with sugar as it relates to tooth decay isn’t how much is consumed but how often you eat it. Frequent small amounts of sugar expose you to more decay risk than fewer larger meals. If you were to eat just one raisin or a fourth of a Lifesaver every fifteen minutes, for example, you would expose your teeth to a non-stop acid attack.
We do have a defense. Plaque germs exude a sticky substance that enables them to adhere to the surface of your teeth. It takes about 24 hours for a bacterial colony attached to your teeth to mature enough to a thick layer where the acids are not washed away immediately by the saliva. These bacteria are dislodged by the mechanical action of brushing and flossing. Since it takes a day for a plaque colony to mature, thoroughly cleaning every surface of your teeth at least once a day will prevent plaque from causing harm in most cases.
And there you have the answer to solving the majority of problems with dental caries: Meticulously remove all the bacterial plaque from every surface of every tooth at least once per day. Take 8-10 minutes to thoroughly clean your mouth. Reduce the number of times a day your mouth is exposed to sugar by eating three or four meals spaced out during the day and eliminating between-meal snacks.
