This is why some people are more prone to cavities

 

We care a lot about our bodily health and mental health but we often don’t prioritize our dental health.

You may be wondering why cavities persistently pop up in your mouth, despite your attempts at good oral care, whereas your friends or family members whose oral cleaning routines aren’t as diligent as yours, may still maintain a gorgeous grill and don’t get cavities nearly as often as you do.

Though oral hygiene is critical for healthy natural teeth, there are actually some reasons why someone people have a more difficult time preventing cavities than others.

Certain clusters of the population are more susceptible to cavities due to their genes. This is probably hereditary.

Cavities are caused by plaque that forms on our teeth. Plaque basically is a sticky substance that’s made by the millions of individual bacteria that live in our mouths.

Our mouth is home to many kinds of bacteria. Most of which are not harmful, however there are some that are associated with tooth decay. If this bacteria is present in higher amounts in a person, then they may be more prone to tooth decay.

The bacteria in plaque use the sugars contained in the sugary and starchy foods we eat and drink to create acids that then eat away at our tooth enamel. This is because caries- causing organisms prefer sugar as an energy source. Thus the metabolism of this sugar into lactic acid causes cavities.

Over time, these repeated attacks of acids on our enamel cause it to break down, resulting in a hole on the tooth’s surface, which if left untreated, spreads much deeper into the tooth, resulting in cavities.

Therefore, it’s not just the quantity of plaque biofilm present, but the specific strain with which one is infected that is important in predicting who might get cavities.

Also if the pH of your saliva is acidic, then the enamel of your teeth can become weak and they can begin to erode. The longer your teeth remain in an acidic environment, the greater your chances of getting cavities.

You might also be more prone to cavities if you do not produce much saliva. Your saliva is your body’s natural way of helping to of washing away the acidity in the mouth and cleaning the surfaces of the teeth that house caries-causing organisms as well as bringing calcium and minerals to your teeth to help repair damage. Having low levels of saliva can also make you more prone to cavities. So, more the saliva present in your mouth the better.

Dentists in dental clinics in Delhi suggest all their patients the use of sugar free chewing gums as an adjunct to oral care.

These are just some of the many factors that contribute to caries progression and ultimately cavities which are less controllable whereas factors like diet and oral hygiene are controllable.

Therefore it is true, some people are really just more cavity prone than others but there are preventative steps against dental caries, which are important for a healthy and happy mouth.

Brushing and flossing twice daily can help decrease your chances of getting cavities and reducing your intake of sugar and carbohydrates (which convert into sugar in the mouth) can also significantly reduce them. Rinsing after every time you eat or snack can also help in keeping caries under control as it washes away all the food debris.

Dentists in Delhi are regularly counseling patients about how to maintain good dental health and are following a systematic protocol of 6 monthly reminders for patients to come for regular dental checkups so that a cavity can be detected and treated at an incipient stage.

These oral care regimens must be performed religiously daily, in order to be entirely effective to reduce the levels of the plaque biofilms and their nutrient warehouses, which helps keep caries under control.

Posted by- Dr Shriya