2650 Lake Sahara Dr. Suite 160,
Las Vegas, NV 89117 | 702 734 0776
Short answer? YES!
Cavities are caused by a bacterial infection on the teeth known as "caries". Dental caries is the #1 childhood disease, five times more prevalent than #1, which is asthma. This infection in children is primarily caused by:
Our office utilizes Caries Risk Assessment protocols, products and systems from http://www.carifree.com We thank them for their educational resources found in this article and the links below!
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Tooth Decay-Why Are Teeth Still Decaying from Douglas Sandquist on Vimeo.
Tooth Decay is a caused by bacteria. Certain bacteria produce an acid when they consume sugar. This acid is what etches the teeth and causes carious lesions in the teeth. These bacteria thrive in an acidic oral environment, so the treatment of tooth decay involves neutralizing the pH in the mouth and eliminating the bacteria that produce the most acid.
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Over time Silver Mercury fillings will break down, start leaking and often fall apart. When they fall apart they usually reveal tooth decay and other stuff. When fillings this size fall apart there isn’t much tooth left, which often require a crown or cap to cover the whole entire tooth. Fortunately, today there are options to restore these teeth without having to cover the whole entire tooth, just the necessary areas. These teeth are great areas to use a restoration called an “Onlay”, which replaces only a portion of the tooth. An Onlay, can be created out of Gold, Ceramic, and Composite materials. Here’s a couple of Onlays completed with Composite material.
This is the Before Image: Note the broken filling on the tooth on the right!
We completed the restoration on the right tooth about 2 months ago and were treating the middle tooth today.
An Image of both restorations completed. A Nice Result.
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Ok, you’ve just been told you need a filling or a crown at a recent dental visit to fix a cavity. We’ve already discussed How Tooth Decay Happens in a previous SmileByte article. Let’s now discuss what can be done after the cavity has been fixed to prevent future cavities from occurring.
Fillings and or Crowns fix defects or cavities in the teeth caused by tooth decay. However, a filling or crown doesn’t necessarily stop the tooth decay process, it merely removes the decayed tooth structure currently present. If the cause of the tooth decay in the first place is not found then further decay is possible around the brand new restoration. Tooth decay is basically a bacterial infection, and dentists typically refer to this bacterial build up as plague. Plaque is the white film that grows on teeth, and this is what we remove during daily brushing and flossing. It’s the white film that grows on teeth and that film tends to migrate to the spot where the restoration and tooth meet.
Since you have just had a restoration done to treat a cavity is it important to brush and floss daily and see the hygienist on a regular basis. These preventative measures will help to disrupt the plaque colonizing around your brand new restorations. In addition, there has been increasing amounts of research into this process and we are now able to provide each of our patients with a Risk of tooth decay profile ranging from low, moderate, to high. Based on this risk we will then be able to provide recommendations beyond regular brushing and flossing, in terms of dietary coaching, bacteria and saliva testing, hygiene protocols, antibacterial rinses, fluoride rinses and toothpastes, and xylitol gums and candies.
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Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol that reduces the bacteria that causes tooth decay. It is equal in sweetness and volume to sugar and the granular form can be used in many of the ways that sugar is used, including to sweeten cereals and hot beverages and for baking (except when sugar is needed for yeast to rise).
How does xylitol prevent cavities?
Xylitol inhibits the growth of the bacteria that cause cavities. It does this because these bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) cannot utilize xylitol to grow. Over time with xylitol use, the quality of the bacteria in the mouth changes and fewer and fewer decay-causing bacteria survive on tooth surfaces. Less plaque forms and the level of acids attacking the tooth surface is lowered.
Studies show that Streptococcus mutans is passed from parents to their newborn children, thus beginning the growth of these decay-producing bacteria in the child. Regular use of xylitol by mothers has been demonstrated to significantly reduce this bacterial transmission, resulting in fewer cavities for the child.
Many gum and mint manufacturers have jumped on the Xylitol bandwagon and have started using Xylitol as their sweetener of choice. Xylitol gum or mints used 3-5 times daily, for a total intake of 5 grams, is considered optimal. Because frequency and duration of exposure is important, gum should be chewed for approximately 5 minutes and mints should be allowed to dissolve.
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We now have tools available to evaluate risk of Tooth Decay. Tooth decay is a bacterial infection just as gum disease is a bacterial infection, they are just different bacteria’s affecting different parts of the mouth. Unfortunately, there are no magic pills to take to get rid of it, but we do now have a strategy to reduce your risk. The goal in reducing your risk is to reduce the factors that allow the bacteria to sit on the tooth surface and excrete acid that decays teeth.
Some people have poor home care, so the bacteria is allowed to pile up on the tooth surfaces and do their damage, these people can immediately lower their risk by adding an electric toothbrush to the mix or shortening their hygiene appointments.
Others have adequate home care but still have yearly fillings because they may have poor salivary flow that doesn’t neutralize the acids excreted by the bacteria.
Others may just have more of the bad bacteria that cause tooth decay. They are mutans streptococci and lactobacilli. Today we have a test that is able to measure the salivary flow and measure the level of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in the dental office. So now we can measure the three major risk factors that cause tooth decay! Adding these assessments to home care and dietary considerations can help lead to a plan to lower the risk of Tooth Decay!
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Tooth decay is caused by certain types of bacteria (mutans streptococci
and lactobacilli) that live in your mouth. When they attach themselves to
the teeth and multiply in dental plaque, they can do damage. The bacteria
feed on what you eat, especially sugars (including fruit sugars) and cooked
starch (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.). Within just a few minutes after
you eat, or drink, the bacteria begin producing acids as a by-product of their
digesting your food. Those acids can penetrate into the hard substance of
the tooth and dissolve some of the minerals (calcium and phosphate). If the
acid attacks are infrequent and of short duration, your saliva can help to
repair the damage by neutralizing the acids and supplying minerals and fluo-
ride that can replace those lost from the tooth. However, if:
1) your mouth is dry
2) you have many of these bacteria
3) you snack frequently
then the tooth mineral lost by attacks of acids is too great, and cannot be repaired.
This is the start of tooth decay and leads to cavities.
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