Nowadays, tooth decay has become a major dental issue. The tooth decay problem is painful and affects the appearance of your teeth, which would result from having a radiant and confident smile.
Moreover, decaying teeth can even weaken your gums and damage other teeth, too, thus demanding the extraction of decayed teeth and the provision of dental implants, which again becomes costly.
Besides, tooth decay can cause adverse effects on your overall health if neglected.
That’s why it becomes crucial to know the causes of tooth decay and prevent it to save yourself from drastic health conditions. People often wonder about the natural causes of tooth decay.
Although a dentist would be a better person to give a detailed guide on tooth decay, this blog will provide you with a thorough overview of the causes of tooth decay and how to prevent it with proper dental care.
What is Tooth Decay?
Tooth decay is a common dental issue that occurs when bacteria start eroding the hard outer surface of your tooth (enamel) and create a hole in it.
Although tooth decay might look like a minor issue to you, it is not. This minor problem gradually takes the form of a drastic dental problem. Bacteria break down sugar from foods and produce acids that slowly start eroding the tooth enamel, ultimately leading to cavities that need advanced tooth cavity treatment like root canal treatment or dental implant.
That’s why it becomes crucial for you to identify the tooth decay symptoms early and consult with a Berwick dentist near you to prevent it from emerging. The following are the most common tooth decay symptoms.
- Tooth Sensitivity: You might experience a slight sensitivity while eating or drinking hot and cold foods and beverages.
- Pain in Tooth: You would feel a sharp pain while eating and drinking.
- Holes in the Tooth: You would visualize holes and pits in your teeth.
- Staining: Your teeth will start getting stains of black or brown colour.
- Bad Breath: Your breath might continuously stink with a foul odour because of tooth decay.
Causes of Tooth Decay
Here are the most common causes of tooth decay.
Poor Oral Health
People often neglect regular brushing and flossing, which can build plaque on your teeth. The plaque buildup will slowly start eroding the tooth enamel, which will decay your tooth.
This would ultimately lead to the formation of tooth cavities in your mouth, which would require high-end dental treatments like tooth extraction or dental implants.
High Intake of Sugar and Starch
Too much regular consumption of sugary foods and beverages is also one of the most common causes of decaying teeth.
Sugary foods and starch-containing foods like bread contain acids whose regular intake will damage your tooth enamel. This would ultimately decay your tooth.
Dry Mouth
Saliva plays a crucial role in helping you maintain oral health by washing off all the bacteria produced by food particles.
That’s why when saliva production decreases because of the xerostomia problem, the food buildup produces plaque on the tooth enamel, resulting in tooth decay.
Grooves and Pits in Mouth
Many people often contain grooves and pits naturally embedded on their chewing surfaces.
Food particles get easily stuck in such deep grooves and pits, making removing them difficult with regular brushing and flossing. The stuck food particles result in plaque buildup, ultimately leading to tooth decay.
Preventive Measures for Tooth Decay
Now that you know the natural causes of tooth decay, here are some preventive measures you can take to prevent tooth decay from occurring.
Following a Regular Oral Health Routine
You can keep your teeth healthy with regular brushing and flossing. Dentists in Berwick always recommend brushing and flossing your teeth twice daily to keep them healthy.
Moreover, brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste helps you avoid the problem of tooth decay.
Using Dental Sealants
Sealants are thin coatings that are usually applied on the chewing surfaces.
These thin coatings help cover the in-built grooves and pits and prevent the food particles from getting stuck and building up plaque. This ultimately prevents your teeth from getting decayed due to plaque buildup.
Limiting the Sugar and Starch Intake
As extensive sugar and starch intake contributes to tooth decay, limiting the intake of such foods and beverages would be better. This will not only help you prevent tooth decay problems but also allow you always to keep your teeth in better condition.
Also, once you consume such sugary or starchy food, rinsing your mouth with water immediately after consumption will prevent the breakdown of bacteria-causing acids in your mouth.
Having Regular Dental Checkups
While routine body checkups are essential for maintaining good health, regular dentistry visits are also necessary to maintain good oral hygiene.
Regular dental visits will allow you to get an idea of potential dental problems and treat them early with minimal effort and money.
Final Thoughts
Tooth decay has become a common oral health problem. It arises mainly due to the erosion of tooth enamel by too much intake of sugary and starchy foods, maintaining poor oral health, dry mouth, and grooves and pits in the mouth.
Though tooth decay seems minor, it can lead to significant outcomes and expensive treatments if neglected. That’s why it’s highly advisable to prevent tooth decay.
To prevent tooth decay, you should have regular dentistry visits, follow a proper oral routine, say no to sugary foods regularly, and use dental sealants. By taking such preventive measures, you will be able to keep your teeth in a healthy condition.
Woodleigh Waters Dental Surgery is well-known for tooth cavity treatment and cavity filling in Berwick. Our decade-long expertise allows us to treat tooth cavities with painless measures, which makes it the best tooth decay treatment in Berwick.
Get in touch with us to explore more about us.