Dental Caries
What is dental caries?
Dental caries, or dental decay, is a common disease, which causes cavities and discoloration of both permanent and "baby" teeth. As the disease progresses in a tooth it becomes weaker and its nerve may be damaged.
What causes dental caries?
Dental decay occurs when bacteria in the mouth make acid which then dissolves the tooth. Bacteria only produce this acid when they are exposed to sugar.
How can you prevent dental caries?
If you have a sensible diet, a good flow of saliva, a cleaning routine and your teeth get an appropriate fluoride exposure, you are unlikely to get decay. So, you can prevent decay by:
- being careful with how often you eat sugary foods or have sugary drinks.
- brushing and flossing your teeth carefully to reduce the amount of bacteria on their surfaces.
- using fluoride toothpaste. This will make the surfaces of teeth more resistant to acid. The fluoride in our water supply strengthens the developing teeth of infants and children.
How do dentists treat dental caries?
Early dental caries is reversible. Mineral can be deposited back onto the tooth surface if you can modify your diet and oral hygiene. Your dentist can treat early areas of caries with topical fluoride, and if you are careful with your diet and cleaning no other treatment may be required.
A more advanced area of dental caries will require a "filling". Your dentist will remove the damaged and infected soft tooth structure and repair the tooth. It is important to have this done as early as possible to preserve the strength of the tooth and prevent bacteria damaging the tooth pulp.
It is very important to listen to your dentist’s advice on how to eliminate the cause of your caries. Don’t think that just fixing a cavity will stop the disease from occurring in other areas of the mouth.
