What causes tooth decay?

What causes tooth decay?

What is it that lives on our teeth, gums, and tongue? Microbes! These microbes can be good or bad and the bad ones can cause tooth decay. There are many types of bacteria that cause tooth decay; these can be Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, and Lactobacillus. This is not at all exaggerated: as soon as we eat something, our bad, tiny microbes start to initiate a fierce battle in our mouths.

The bacteria use every bit of leftover foods and drinks that contain sugar or starch as ingredients to produce acids that can eat away the tooth's hardest surface, the enamel. The wound in the tooth that we've noticed as the dental cavity and the surrounding devastating, sticky, transparent film of microbes as dental plaque.

Battling the destruction the microbes have brought, is the minerals in our saliva, consisting of mainly Calcium and Phosphate. Together with Flouride from the toothpaste, water, and other sources, the saliva remineralises the damaged enamel after each acid attack.

This battle of scraping minerals away and cementing it back to enamel is always happening at any time for as long as the person is alive. A constant acid attack, however, may overburden the ability of saliva to heal the tooth.

This means that the frequent eating and drinking of sugar and starch that we all love, arms the bacteria to defeat the good guy, saliva. The rate of recovery of the enamel will be outrun by the repeated cycles of acid damage done to it, hence causing it to lose minerals. An early sign of decay may show in the form of a white spot where the mineral is lacking.

If action is taken at this point, by supplying enough minerals and Fluoride, the enamel can still repair itself and the decay can be stopped or even reversed. But if we keep consuming sugar and starch mindlessly, more minerals will be lost and the decay process will continue beyond repair. The enamel will be weakened and eventually destroyed, forming a dental cavity.

To save the damaged tooth, we require the help of a dentist to fill the hole with materials such as composite resin. Tooth decay can be avoided by eating or drinking less sugar and starches. Frequent use of fluoride-containing mouthwashes, gels, toothpaste, and tablets will also fortify the enamel. This is why it's important to brush our teeth twice a day!

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Timestamp:

00:00 Tooth decay
00:26 How does tooth decay happen?
01:46 Early signs of decay
01:52 Treatment
02:26 Prevention