TOOTH DECAY – THE MOST NEGLECTED YET IMPORTANT

HOW DO MY TEETH GET DECAYED?

Tooth decay is damage to a tooth’s surface. Tooth decay can lead to cavities (dental caries), which are holes in your teeth. If tooth decay is not treated, it can cause pain, infection, and even tooth loss.

WHAT CAUSES TOOTH DECAY?

Our oral cavity is exposed to a number of substances, which makes it a habitat for many microbes. Some of them are really useful as they help in various processes like breaking our food into small pieces which can be absorbed easily.

But most of them cause harm to the tooth structure by adhering to the tooth structure and causing cavities or holes on it, which we call decay.

HOW DOES A CAVITY FORM?

When we take foods, drinks and any eatable containing sugars, the bacteria on the teeth are provided with the materials which require for their survival. They release certain acids which starts eating away the protective layer of the tooth called enamel by the process called demineralisation. Slowly, over a period of time this leads to damage to the tooth structure, thus forming a cavity.

WHEN DO I KNOW THAT MY TEETH ARE DECAYED?

We can know that our teeth are decayed by the following symptoms:

• White spots on the tooth.
• Blackish discolouration of the tooth.
• Cavities
• Tooth pain
• Swelling