why do i get cavities so easily?!


Question: Why do i get cavities so easily?
i brush my teeth twice a day with colgate protective or sensitive toothpaste, use floss or a tiny interdental toothbrush every night and a protecting mouthwash that states it remineralises enamel & protects against plaque etc., i never ever forget to brush my teeth. i never drink fizzy drinks, coffee or tea, nor do i have a large amount of sweets/sugar, i have a normal healthy diet. i dont smoke, im 20 years old an have already had 2 rootcanals, 8 fillings and 4 teeth out-(they had completely disintergrated down to the gum!!)

what is going on here?! my dentist has a go at me & says stop eatin sweets and dont forget to brush but i do all this already!!

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

genetics. My mom and I can go weeks without brushing our teeth and still have perfect healthy teeth. (I don't suggest doing this) but some people inherit weak, soft teeth that are more prone to cavities.



It can hereditary so if your mom or dad have lots of teeth problems maybe thats why you do.
Or maybe your not brushing or flossing right.



you could have something in the family whre your family has problems with there teeth or you could brushing and flossing not right or you could be not brushing enough



It's hereditary! I suggest getting sealants on all of your molars to help protect from cavities



I'm not an authority by any means, but from what my dentist told me (I've also always been very prone to tooth decay), it's very likely you have "soft" teeth, which makes them more vulnerable. This may be due to low calcium levels (I believe this to be the most likely, but not necessarily the only cause). Despite a healthy and balanced diet one can still be deficient in certain minerals and vitamins due to poor absorption of nutrients in the gut, for which in turn there can be various causes which I won't go into here. One sign of calcium deficiency is the presence of white flecks on the finger nails, another is brittle hair. If you think this may be a possibility you can consult a nutritionist, preferably one who can test your mineral levels with hair analysis or Vega Testing. It is a problem that can be addressed, though it may require some colonic cleansing first. I found myself to be calcium deficient through hair analysis at the University of Surrey in the UK which likely explained my persistent tooth decay. My dentist also pointed out that naturally occurring sugars such as those found in fruit juice and fruit itself will also cause plaque and hence tooth decay, so a high fruit intake is not necessarily a good thing; indeed, the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" doesn't unfortunately include dentists! My dentist actually advised me to go easy on the fruit juice, not just sweets etc. Another factor in my case was that although my dental hygiene is good as an adult I realised as I got older that it hadn't been as a child because I had never been instructed properly (plus I was lazy!). So I'd had a lot of dental work by the time I was an adult, which also made my teeth more vulnerable to decay. Hope this helps.

Mainly own experience.



There are only a few reasons why this would happen. Let me explain why cavities happen in the first place.

When you don't brush your teeth (for example throughout the day), plaque forms on the surface of your teeth. Plaque is the soft, creamy stuff that you can scrape off easily, and literally what that is made up of is millions of bacteria. That's all plaque is, bacteria. The bacteria feeds off the sugar that you put in your mouth, and poos out a highly acidic substance that kinda eats through the enamel of the tooth. This is the start of dental caries, which is decay of the tooth, which equals a cavity. Once you start to get the decay you can't reverse it, all you can do it clear out the decay and fill it, resulting in a filling!

So the question you need to be asking yourself is, why is the plaque being left on my teeth long enough for the decay to start?

Firstly, as everyone says, it could be herditary. You may have "softer" teeth than average, but that doesn't change the way that the cavities came about, it may mean that it's easy for the bacteria to start working into the tooth, but ultimately plaque is still being left there in order for the decay to start.

Second; Diet. This is the main cause of tooth decay. Now I know that you say you don't have a sugary diet, what about soft drinks? Squash? And milk? Fruit juice? Anything like sports drinks or fruit teas? Yogurt? Chewable vitamin C tablets? I know it sounds silly but there is sugar in everything, so it is really easy to consume it without realising it. All of the things listed above are LOADED with sugar, so just because you don't have a sugary diet with sweeties and biscuits, doesn't mean that you aren't still taking in sugar.
Also, you have to learn how to eat sugar safely. Everytime you eat the PH of your mouth drops to a critical level where your salivia (spit) can't protect your teeth. This is when the bacteria run riot and cause problems. So if you are having a sip of orange juice every five minutes for an hour, that is an hour of your teeth having no protection. If you drink the whole glass at once, it is much better for your teeth. That's right, it's better to be greedy :-)

Next: Diseases and illnesses. Do you have an disease or illness or reason as to why your mouth doesn't produce saliva? Do you often have a dry mouth? If so, this migh be a cause. Your salivia really helps to look after your teeth, it helps balance the PH, it removes food and buffs the teeth to protect them, so if you aren't producing a lot of spit, this could be a factor. Also, do you have sports drinks when you exercise? If you are exercising and you get a dryer mouth than normal, and you take a nice big drink of sports drinking, you are literally pouring sugar onto your poor teeth. Poor mites.

Next: Good oral hygiene. Now I know you say you brush, but how often? And when? You should be brushing at least twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste. What brand toothpaste do you use? Have a look at the tube and see how much fluoride is in it PPM (parts per million). If it is less than 1400, you need to change the toothpaste to comething like Colgate where the PPM is 1450, which is perfect. Also, how long are you brushing for? And what is your technique? You should be brushing all the surfaces of the teeth not just the outside surface (the side that touches your lip). You need to brush the "top" of the tooth where you chomp down on, and also the inside surface which is closest to your tongue or palate. You also need to clean between your teeth to remove pesky plaque from places where your brush can't reach!

Mouthwash doesn't do anything. At all. Does not protect enamel or remineralise anything. It's expensive and a total waste, you could have the same effect by rubbing toothpaste on your gums because all mouthwash does is put more fluoride in your mouth, which is good, but the same can be achieved with toothpaste. It isn't Listerine that you use is it? That stuff is nearly 40% alcohol, it's so not good at all. Bin it!!!

That's all I can think of right now. The only other thing to do is, when you brush your teeth at the end of the day, spit out the toothpaste but don't rinse with water or anything, just leave the toothpaste in your mouth. Floss with it still in and leave it. That makes sure that the fluoride is really getting chance to work, and if you floss with it then you are making sure that it is between your teeth too!!

Good luck, and happy Oral Hygiene!!! :-)

~.~

Me, dental nurse.




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