Ask the Dentist!
Why do I have cavities?
It’s estimated that 92% of adults have suffered from at least one cavity in their lifetime. If you’re in the 8% who have not, count yourself lucky. With America’s diet loaded with sugar, it’s a wonder why it’s not 100%.
During a typical week I have at least one patient ask me after years of no cavities why all of sudden do they have a cavity. To answer that question, let's take a look at what’s needed to form a cavity, factors that lead to cavity formation, and how to manage them.
How is a cavity formed?
To form a cavity, you need three components:
- Teeth
- Bacteria
- Food source
It goes without saying that if you don’t have teeth you won’t have a problem with cavities. Bacteria is present in everyone’s mouth and if not controlled can cause numerous problems. Here we are going to focus on decay. If allowed to remain on teeth long enough, bacteria will release acid as they metabolized the foods we eat, especially sugar. Sugar, especially refined sugar, is the worst because it is turned to acid the quickest, eventually dissolving the outside layer of a tooth, causing a cavity to form. This is why reading labels is so important for anything that is eatable.
When talking with a patient about their diet, the main focus is typically on food and drinks. What’s not taken into account is other things such as supplements, cough drops, mints, gums and even overlooking the sweetener put in coffee and tea.
Not long ago I had a long-time patient come in with an isolated cavity on the inside of a tooth by her tongue. It was only on one tooth and only on one side. She denied any changes to her diet but after some questioning, we figured out the culprit. She had a cold a few months back and had developed a habit of using cough drops throughout the day. She would hold the cough drop against her tooth with her tongue right where the cavity had formed. So even though she came in for her regular cleanings and had really good oral hygiene the constant exposure of the tooth to the sugar in the cough drop lead to a large cavity forming. Once we identified and corrected the cause of the cavity, she had no more issues.
Even though diet is the biggest cause of decay, poor oral hygiene, even with a low sugar diet, can lead to decay problems. Plaque on teeth are primarily composed of bacteria. The more plaque, the more bacteria. The longer the plaque sits on teeth, the longer the bacteria have to form a cavity. Some patients can’t understand why they have cavities when they brush 3-4x a day. But when I ask how often they floss, that’s a different story.
Plaque between the teeth cause cavities just the same as plaque on the outside surfaces of teeth. So, as you can see, of the three factors needed to cause cavities we can control two, diet and oral hygiene, and yes this does include flossing.
If you’ve been told you have cavities and have concerns, contact us for a second opinion at 225-926-4203.