Dental Currents, September 2011

Tooth decay is a systemic process!

This month, I have an article explaining a new understanding of tooth decay published in the Academy of General Dentistry’s journal .Click on the highlithed link to view it. This is quite an honour because this dental journal is sent to over 34,000 dentists around the world. From original research to publishing took about 6 years and lots of perseverance. In non-dentist terms, here is why it is different.

Traditionally, tooth decay has always been regarded as a local or “limited to the mouth” illness. The theory goes like this - oral or mouth bacteria stick to the teeth. If they are not cleaned off with a brush or floss and they are fed sugar, they will make acid which demineralizes the tooth and leads to the decay process. Flouride is used to remineralize the tooth to try to slow or stop the decay process. Sounds great, but only part is right and most of it is wrong!

My article explains that tooth decay is really a systemic or “whole body” process. A healthy tooth nourishes itself with a fluid flow from the inside of the tooth to the outside. Visualize it as “sweating”. The control mechanism for this process is in the brain, which is also regulating other body processes at the same time, such as insulin. Sugar is the diet tells the brain that the body needs more insulin to control blood sugar levels. To better focus on this critical blood sugar situation, the brain quits telling the tooth to “sweat”. In fact, the fluid flow through the tooth stops and can even reverse itself. Suddenly the healthy tooth which was constantly washing itself from the inside now acts more like a sponge. Oral bacteria can now stick to the tooth surface and their acids can demineralize the surface. The key difference is that the decay process does not start with oral bacteria producing acid but with the tooth being set up for demineralization by sugar reversing the fluid flow.

Some people have teeth that are whiter and seem to glisten. These teeth are “sweating”. Others have teeth that are dull and pick up stains easily. These teeth are the ones acting like sponges. You control the difference by what you eat, especially between meals. Limit sugar laden coffee, soft drinks and sweets between meals and you will go a long way to healthier, whiter and brighter teeth.

Now you and 34,000 other dentists know the real story of tooth decay.

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