How long after eating sweets can one expect to begin forming cavaties? 15 mins? !
Question:
How long after eating sweets can one expect to begin forming cavaties? 15 mins? 2 hours? A day? A week?
Just curious. I brush 2/day and floss once nightly, but will the piece of candy I eat at 1pm lead to the formation of cavaties before I've had a chance to brush and floss again at 10pm? Or do cavities not form that quickly?
Answers:
Good question!! That all depends on what type of bacteria and the amount you have in your mouth. Bacteria live in plaque. The sugar in foods feeds the bacteria and they produce an acid which dissolves the enamel causing a cavity (demineralisation). If you keep your teeth clean, brushing twice a day and flossing, this means the bacteria doesn't have time to get up in numbers (ie thickness of plaque) so you will be fine. However, if you have weak enamel or lack fluoride in the drinking water, this ups the chance of tooth decay so limit sweet sugary things to meal times and chew sugar free gum afterwards to stimulate saliva flow which will wash the teeth and help remineralise the enamel.