Healthy teeth are necessary for the health of the body. The mouth is the entrance to the body. If the home of disease is in the mouth, then how can the whole body be healthy! Dirty teeth are a sign of uncleanliness and carelessness. It is wiser to protect the teeth by taking proper care before getting tooth and gum disease and then getting treatment. Dental health is the first step to body health.
Generally, an adult human has 32 teeth in his mouth, while children have a total of 20 teeth, also known as milk teeth. There are four types of teeth based on the position of the teeth in the mouth.
What is Tooth Decay?
A cavity caused by the dissolution of tooth mineral on any surface of a tooth is called tooth decay. In white teeth, dental plaque is seen as black or brown pits. Tooth decay can happen to a person of any age, the incidence of tooth decay is more common in children.
Tooth decay is a disease caused by bacteria. Many types of bacteria are found in our mouth. Some of these types of bacteria produce acid. This acid dissolves the mineral structure of the tooth. Bacteria use food to get rid of waste products just like other organisms. Bacteria responsible for tooth decay.
(Usually – Streptococcus mutants or Acidophilus lactobacilli) sustains itself by consuming food particles or sugars stuck to the teeth and releasing acid as a by-product at the end of this process. This acid dissolves and damages the tooth structure. There are many bacteria in every mouth, if proper cleaning is not done, such bacteria multiply on the teeth.
And such a growing bacterial population forms a yellow scaly layer on the teeth known as dental plaque.
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This layer damages the teeth in two ways
- Dental plaque become home to bacteria and protects bacteria.
- The acid produced by the bacteria, instead of flowing away, remains attached to the tooth due to the boundary of this layer. This gradually loses the teeth.
Tooth decay is a slow, continuous process that takes months or years. The progression of this decay depends on the age of the dental plaque – the type of bacteria – the cleaning and brushing activity of the teeth. Consuming too much of sweet-tasty foods accelerates this process.
In the early stages of tooth decay, there is no pain or discomfort. But when this decay progresses and erodes the enamel and dentin, it becomes painful only when it reaches the root of the tooth known as the pulp. The root of the tooth contains only sensory nerves, not the outer layer known as enamel or dentin. Hence there is no pain in the initial stage of decay.
Once decay occurs in a tooth, if left untreated, it gradually gets deeper and deeper. This decay cannot be prevented in any other way.
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Causes of Tooth decay
- Constant consumption of sweet and greasy foods like – chocolate, jaggery, ice cream, dessert etc.
- Giving milk from a bottle at night to young children while they sleep.
- If the baby is not brushed after giving breast milk at night...
- When fluoride content in drinking water is low...
- If the teeth have deep and narrow grooves or fissures that naturally provide an easy way for food particles to get trapped.
- Inadequate cleaning and brushing.
- If the teeth are crooked or crooked, the brush will not be suitable and the chance of decay increases.
