Shelby Township Dentist Discusses Cavities
Hi, this is Doctor Robert Antolak from The Gentle Dentist in Shelby Township. Our phone number is 586-247-3500, and the reason why I’m giving you that contact information is because after you’re done listening to this, you’re going to feel compelled to give us a call.
What I want to talk about today is your cavities. A lot of people who surf the web are people in their twenties and their thirties, and they’re looking for a dentist. And I want to address you.
We have people in our office who come in, they have a lot of decay in their mouth, cavities are kind of taking over. What I want to do is explain why that is and what you can do about that.
Cavities form by bacteria that is in the mouth. The plaque that builds up on your teeth, that’s bacteria. When that bacteria comes in contact with sugars from candy, sugars from pop, the bacteria uses it as a food source and sugar kind of creates some kind of acid. That acid sits on your teeth and basically rots holes in the teeth over time.
What I want to do is talk a little bit about, what to do to prevent it and what to do to treat it.
The bacteria that sits on there. If it’s allowed to sit on there, every time you drink, every time you have a sip, the pH, the acidity level, goes up, the pH goes down, and that creates microscopic cavities. Over time, on the front teeth especially, the teeth might start looking a frosty white color. I use the analogy that frosty white color is like concrete that’s been painted, and all of a sudden you start seeing that paint pull away from the concrete. Well, it’s still painted, but now, if you go through and you, you brush your hand across it or put something to it, you’ll see it will flake right off. That’s what these white cavities are, the white ones that look bright white in color, that’s a cavity that’s forming. Underneath that area, there’s usually decay. So the most important thing right now is to learn about how to prevent it.
I know you like your pop, but even though you like it, it’s not good for you. Water is your best substitute for that. Water is really great because water is natural of course and it helps to neutralize those acids in the mouth. If you absolutely do need to drink pop, then what you want to do is do it with a meal. If you have to do that, do it through a straw. The straw will not put the acidity in the pop, and the sugar on the teeth that creates those cavities.
Also, it’s also not good to brush your teeth right away after you take a sip of your pop. What that does is there are organic fibers in the tooth structure itself, when you drink the pop and the acid, part of the minerals are pulled away from that and if you go ahead and brush it, those little fibers that are there will start breaking down, it will not re-attach with the mineral to the tooth. The re-attachment process takes place naturally between meals. Our saliva has the ability to buffer it to reduce the acidity level. It also has the ability with minerals that are in the saliva to re-heal those areas that have been affected. So that’s important. Also, using products with Xylitol is helpful. Fluoride is helpful. There are a number of different products and ways to help re-mineralize your teeth so they don’t become such an issue.
If it has become to that point where your teeth are hurting you, please feel free to give us a call. We will assess everything and see where things stand for you, but it is best if you really prevent it if you possibly can. For those people who are nervous we provide sedation dentistry with the gas and so this way we can help to get you where you want to be.
Shelby Township Dentist Discusses Cavities
So, if this describes you, please take the information that I just said, and you use it for your own use. If you do need to reach us regarding cavities or any other matter, our phone number is 586-247-3500. Our website is theGentleDentist.com, thank you.