Can cavities be stopped from growing?

The protective outer shell of our teeth is called enamel. Enamel doesn’t contain living cells and, unlike bones, the body can’t make more enamel if it is destroyed. Demineralization occurs due to acid in our diet, disease like acid reflux, and bacteria. The bacteria in our mouth that cause dental decay reside in the plaque on our teeth. While we cannot produce new enamel (yet,) we can remineralize the enamel with fluoride.

As a conservative dentist, when I do an exam and detect demineralization that is confined to the enamel (rather that exceeded past the enamel into the inner dentin of the tooth) I will discuss how the patient can “arrest” the decay by modifications in diet and oral hygiene. This gives you a chance to avoid needing a filling.

Best practices for remineralization and making your teeth stronger:

1) Healthy diet. Avoid consuming excessive sugar. Candy is an obvious culprit, but sticky carbohydrates (like sugary bread, crackers, & cereal), and sweetened beverages are also detrimental to your health.

“American adults consume an average of 77 grams of sugar per day, more than 3 times the recommended amount….. American kids consume 81 grams per day, equaling over 65 pounds of added sugar per year. Think of it this way – children are ingesting over 30 gallons of added sugars from beverages alone.” source

Check out this sample Nutrition Facts label to gain insight on the sugar content of the foods you eat:

In addition, be aware of the acid levels in your diet— even healthy foods like citrus, vinegars, etc are harsh to the enamel of our teeth.

2. Remineralizing the enamel with fluoride, phosphate, and calcium. Fluoride is a well-studied element that can become incorporated into our enamel to make the enamel more resistant to cavities and can stop early cavities from getting larger. Over the counter fluoride toothpaste and rinses (like ACT) are helpful. For those that are especially prone to decay, I prescribe prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride also has an inhibitory effect on the germs that cause cavities.

For people who choose not to use fluoride, MI paste helps remineralize teeth with calcium and phosphate. (MI plus paste contains fluoride. )

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