Cavities are one of the most popular dental complaints in the world and yet are easily avoided with proper care. While it’s vital that you visit your dentist regularly for checkups, there is a lot you can do yourself to prevent cavities appearing.

Cavities are a symptom of tooth decay caused by bacteria that gets into the teeth and eats away at tooth enamel. As the bacteria works, it produces acid which compounds the problem. The acid erodes the tooth enamel and then leaches into the tooth itself, which is what causes cavities.

That bacteria feeds on the sugar and starch we eat and emits a gas as a result of consumption. That gas produces bad breath, which is another reason we want to prevent it!

Our diets are generally high in sugar and starch, providing lots of food for the bacteria in our mouths. So, diet has a big influence in how susceptible we are to cavities and tooth decay.

Preventing tooth decay and cavities

Preventing tooth decay and in turn, cavities is actually quite simple. However, it takes effort and requires you to build time into your busy daily schedule. If you can do that, you can prevent tooth decay.

To prevent damage to your teeth you need to:

Brush your teeth daily

Brush your teeth twice a day after meals with a good quality toothpaste and you will go a long way to preventing tooth decay. Make sure you brush properly and spend at least 2 minutes doing it. If you want to learn how to brush properly, we can help.

Floss regularly

Flossing isn’t the most intuitive pastime we can think of but it’s an essential part of good oral hygiene. Regular brushing cannot get between the teeth to remove food, which is where flossing comes in. Floss daily if you can, or at least, as often as you can to maximize your oral health. It will go a long way to preventing cavities.

Eat healthy

The bacteria in our mouth feeds on sugar and starch, so removing as much of it from your diet as possible gives them less fuel to work. Not only does the reduction in sugar help your teeth, it will have overriding health benefits for your entire body. As holistic dentists, we’re very much in favor of that!

Regular dental checks

Visiting your dentist on a regular basis for a checkup is an essential part of maintaining oral health. Even with the best dental regimen in the world, sometimes things get missed or slip through the cracks. It’s our job to spot problems before they arise and help you prevent tooth decay and cavities.

In all aspects of medicine prevention is always better than needing to find a cure, dentistry is no different. Brush twice a day, floss daily, watch what you eat and visit your dentist regularly and there is no reason why you cannot go your entire life without ever needing a filling!

Tooth decay is America’s number one oral health challenge. It’s also the number one chronic childhood illness. Over a quarter of all children under the age of 5 have some form of tooth decay. Over half those aged between 12 – 15 years old have it too.

Those are sobering statistics. Even more so when you consider tooth decay is entirely preventable and easily treatable. As with all medicine, prevention is better than cure. That’s why we have put this post together. To show you five easy ways you can prevent tooth decay from affecting you.

1.    Brush your teeth properly

Proper brushing is essential to remove trapped food, remove bacteria, remove acid and protect your teeth. Use the right toothbrush, the right technique and brush for 2 minutes at least twice daily and you go a long way to preventing tooth decay and cavities.

2.    Floss or water pick daily

Flossing takes a little getting used to but is well worth the effort. Dentists all agree that daily flossing is an essential part of any oral health regimen. Floss can get to the places your brush cannot reach and removes the food bacteria need to produce acid.

3.    Eat a healthy diet

We have spoken before about the importance of a healthy diet and how it relates to oral health. We won’t bore you by going through it all again here, but suffice to say diet is incredibly important for your overall health and wellbeing as well as your oral health.

4.    Visit your dentist regularly

Dentist visits used to be very regimented. Visit once every six months or once a year and that was it unless we needed to see you for treatment. Most dentists’ surgeries will now tailor an appointment schedule to your particular situation.

If you suffer from any oral health issues, have a family history that may cause problems or otherwise need more attention, we often schedule dentist’s visits more often. This offers a much more robust healthcare regimen designed to suit your specific needs.

Those are the 4  best ways we know of preventing tooth cavities. Each works well on their own but work best as part of an overall oral health regimen. Follow them all for the brightest smile and healthiest mouth possible!

Cavities in teeth are caused by tooth decay, the number one challenge to oral health. There are many ways to prevent cavities and we’re going to discuss them today.

Maintaining good oral hygiene and modifying your diet slightly is often enough to prevent the worst of tooth decay. Regular visits to your happy dental home can help with the rest. Between us we can prevent tooth decay and ensure your mouth is cavity free.

Cavities can be prevented by:

• Brushing your teeth
• Flossing
• Proper Diet

Let’s take a look at each.

Prevent Cavities With Regular Brushing

It is vital that everyone brushes their teeth at least twice a day with a good toothpaste. If you want to know which are good toothpastes and which are not, just ask us when you visit us, we’ll be happy to help.

In an ideal world, we would all brush our teeth thoroughly after each meal, but we know it doesn’t happen that way. What’s most important is that you do brush and that you brush properly. A vigorous but not rough action is needed for at least 2 minutes across all surfaces of your teeth to clean properly.

Consider electric toothbrushes if you’re not confident that your manual brush is doing the job. All electric toothbrushes are not the same. We can discuss this with you on an individual basis.

Flossing Helps Prevent Cavities

Regular brushing with a good toothpaste and brush cleans the majority of the surfaces of your teeth. However, the brush can’t get everywhere, especially between your teeth and around the gum.

Flossing takes a little practice to get right, but once you’re used to using dental floss, it becomes part of your daily routine. You only need to floss once per day, but you would be amazed at just how much food and debris it removes.

Use a good floss, and work it gently back and forth between your teeth. Once you hit the gum line, use the floss in a “C” shape and clean under the tooth until you hit the root.

While it doesn’t sound very pleasant, it’s actually a painless process that can help prevent cavities immeasurably. If you’re new to flossing, you may experience a little bleeding at first. This is normal and will go away after a while. Water flossing can be an alternative in many cases.

Help Prevent Cavities With a Balanced Diet

Diet is probably the most difficult aspect of cavity prevention to manage. It requires real lifestyle changes to make it work. The upside is that changing a diet to prevent cavities will also benefit all other aspects of your life too.

Diets high in sugar and carbohydrate create a fertile ground for bacteria in your mouth to create the acid that erodes your teeth. By reducing both, you can help your mouth remain healthy and reduce the harmful bacteria that can do so much damage.

Cutting down on fizzy drinks, coffee, alcohol, chocolate, candy, cake, white bread and other high sugar and carb foods is what will really work here.

You can substitute some of them for other food types so you don’t miss out altogether. For example, you can swap white bread for whole grain, use whole wheat pasta, drink sugar-free  or water instead of fizzy drinks.

Preventing cavities is quite easy once you know how. It just takes slight adjustments of your daily routine and a little effort. Getting children in to the habit of brushing and flossing as young as possible also helps.

If you would like more information on preventing cavities, contact Aesthetic Family Dentistry for a consultation.

Dental sealants are used to coat the chewing surfaces of teeth to prevent cavities. They are primarily applied to protect the premolars and molars from tooth decay and can be a very effective dental treatment.

As you can appreciate, your teeth are full of ridges, gaps and uneven surfaces where tooth decay can take hold. Unless you have an exceptionally effective oral health regimen, a small amount of decay is inevitable. That’s why it’s important to visit your dentist regularly.

Food and other debris can get caught in these gaps which can cause tooth decay. In hard to reach or hard to brush areas, this is quite common. As plaque accumulates in these areas, it attacks tooth enamel and decay can occur. Dental sealants are one way to help prevent that.

Dental sealants are used to coat the premolars and molars with a thin plastic film to prevent tooth decay from taking hold. If food gets trapped within the teeth and plaque forms, there is a strong barrier between it and your teeth, preventing decay from taking hold. It’s a simple but very effective treatment.

How Are Dental Sealants Placed?

The procedure for fitting dental sealants is quite straightforward and doesn’t involve drugs, anesthetic, or drilling.

First we perform a deep clean of the teeth using an air abrasion machine to ensure all plaque has been removed and the teeth are as clean as they can be. Next we wash them down, dry them use a special solution to prepare the teeth for the sealant. The solution creates a key on the surface of the tooth to allow the sealant to adhere properly.

Once the teeth have been dried once more, the sealant itself is applied. The application provides a thin coating across the teeth that is almost invisible. Most sealants will then be dried using a light to provide a hard protective surface. Some sealants will dry without the light, it depends on what kind of sealant your dentist surgery uses.

How Long Does it Last?

If a high quality dental sealant is applied properly, it can last anywhere up to 10 years. Much depends on the health of your mouth, your diet, whether you smoke or drink and some environmental factors.

Regular checkups with your dentist can keep you informed of how the sealant is coping and whether you need to take any special measures to keep it in good condition. Looked after properly, there is no reason why it couldn’t last a decade or more.

What’s more, dental sealants are covered by most insurance policies. They are a proven dental procedure that has long lasting preventive benefits to those who have them. Insurance companies have realized this and now often include them in your coverage. Check your policy to make sure.

If you’re ready to take advantage of dental sealants, contact Aesthetic Family Dentistry for a consultation today!