Causes of Tooth Decay: Killing Bacteria

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What causes tooth decay? The answer to this question doesn’t have only theoretical purposes, it also has a practical meaning. Knowing tooth decay causes it’s much easier to prevent this widely met human’s problem. Even if everything depends on how you treat your teeth during and after each meal, there are things you may not know, so you can’t fully control the situation. This article was created to enlighten you.

In fact, biological and chemistry processes can explain everything about dental decay formation. Analyzing most existent knowledge about this subject anyone can conclude that there are three main factors that lead to decay problems. They are the bacteria, sugar and any kind of tooth surface defects.

The bacteria that live in any human’s mouth represent the first tooth decay cause. Dental plaque constitutes it’s home, the place where this dangerous thing breeds. It’s considered that there are more mutans streptococci bacteria and lactobacilli bacteria, the two main forms of it, in one person’s mouth than people on earth.

This bacteria utilizes sugars like glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose, and cooked starches that are contained in the foods you consume. Then it creates waste products, the same way every man does. These waste products are called lactic acids and they are the main tooth decay cause.

As for sugar, it can be easily found in any sweet foods like honey, bread, rice, milk, juices, fruits, vegetables, soda, candy. The bacteria begin to create acids the first minutes of our meal consuming. It’s horrible even to think what happens when you keep these products for long in your mouth, like candy, for example.

But let’s come back to the harmful bacteria. It’s acids hardly damage the tooth’s enamel. This tooth decay cause is even more dangerous if your tooth has some small defects on its surface. The acids demineralize the tooth’s surface. In fact, it slowly dissolves the calcium in your teeth enamel, causing dental decay.

White spots are the first tooth decay symptoms. Your teeth may become sensitive to touches, to hot or cold temperatures, or to very sweet foods. In fact, any tooth ache already represents a tooth decay symptom and it means that the dentist should be visited as soon as you can.

As for other, less known tooth decay causes, you may consider some mistakes done when taking care about your teeth. Long time brushing is able to hardly damage your tooth’s enamel making it more vulnerable to acids’ bad influence. Some people tend to make their smile whiter by long and frequent teeth cleanings. Unfortunately, they harm their health much more.

Hard bristled toothbrushes are other elements from this tooth decay causes category. They also can harm the tooth’s enamel. Professional whitening, as well as home tooth bleaching increases your teeth sensitivity, making them easier affected by lactic acids. Any cracked tooth becomes more vulnerable to these microorganisms, too.

And, of course, it would be correctly to repeat once more that left pieces of food on and between your teeth represents the main tooth decay cause, even for absolutely healthy people. As well as human’s irresponsibility, these mistakes can and should be avoided, in order to become a bit happier, especially when just thinking about your healthy teeth.