It can be frustrating for patients to learn they have another cavity, year after year, even when they brush, floss, and watch their sugar intake.  There is a feeling of helplessness, when they feel that they are doing everything right, and still have decay. Valuable time is wasted at the dentist’s office, and dental treatment and re-treatment can be costly.

Dental scientists are discovering more about tooth decay, and their findings are changing the attitudes of dentists, and by extension, patients, around the world. 

You see we’ve known for a long time that tooth decay is caused by oral bacteria—bacteria that “eat” sugar and produce acid.  The acid dissolves the enamel of the tooth, causing a cavity.  We ask people to cut down their sugar intake, and “starve” the bacteria, but it turns out the bacteria also like other carbohydrates like fruit, bread and milk.  We recommend prescription-strength fluoride and calcium phosphate to fortify the tooth surface, but patient compliance is difficult to achieve. We ask people to brush and floss better to remove the acid-producing bacteria, but it’s impossible to remove them all, and oral bacterial can double their numbers in a matter of hours.  We could kill the acid-producing bacteria with antibiotics, but we inadvertently kill other bacteria in the process, and re-infection can occur as soon as the anti-microbial treatment is discontinued.

Scientists are now telling us that it is all about the pH in the mouth.  Acidity or alkalinity of a substance is measured on a scale called pH.  The scale runs from 0-14, with pure water being at a neutral pH of 7.  Any value above 7 is alkaline and any value below is acid.  Enamel starts to demineralize at a pH of 5.5 (pH of orange juice is 3-4).  Acidic foods and beverages don’t cause cavities (although they can erode or dissolve teeth over time), but they do create an environment that acid-producing bacteria love.  These bacteria are equipped with special cell walls and mechanisms that allow them to thrive in the acidic environment they create.  If there is more acid in their “neighborhood”, all the better!

Here is what many dental researchers are now recommending for patients who have recurring tooth decay.  First, weaken the acid-producing bacteria with a broad-spectrum antibacterial rinse. At the same time, start to increase the pH of the mouth with special alkaline rinses and toothpastes, while limiting dental exposure to acid foods and beverages.  Continue thorough homecare to remove biofilm from teeth, limit sugar exposure and strengthen tooth surfaces with fluoride and calcium phosphate.  It may sound complicated, but it’s not.  I completed the three-month program myself, and it was pretty simple.  Question?  Contact our office or check out www.carifree.com  

Keep smiling!

---

Caron Nelson Glickman, DDS has been helping her patients achieve and maintain healthy smiles in Duvall since 1992.

          For more information, contact 425-788-1551.

          Caron Nelson Glickman,DDS
          26425 NE Allen Street, #102 • Duvall
          425-788-1551 • caronnelson@comcast.net
          www.great-smile.com