Causes of Dental Caries

Have you ever suffered from dental caries ? I bet you have heard about this topic so many times during your childhood. Dental caries or tooth decay is a damage or cavity in the surface of the tooth in response to bacterial acids. Regarding to the color created, Fejerskov, Nyvad and Kidd(2008) said ”food stain will sieve into the enamel and hence a white spot lesions may over time change color to brown and even almost black.”(p.8). Studies show that more than 91% of adults in the United States of America have tooth decay.

This essay will go through some of the causes of tooth decay which are: poor oral hygiene, breast feeding and malnutrition.

Poor oral hygiene is one of the most common causes that are responsible for tooth decay. In this situation most probably is that the patient’s fail to maintain good oral hygiene habits, such as regular brushing and flossing which aid in removing plaque and tartar from the teeth.

In addition, eating some sort foods like sweets, sugary beverages and complex carbohydrates frequently without brushing after. Moreover, not knowing the correct way of brushing and flossing may leave small amounts of food between teeth. Flossing teeth in a proper way may be an effective method to diminish the amount of bacteria between teeth (Germo, Flotra, Hill and Bergenholtz, 1974,p.263).

Breast feeding is the second cause of dental caries. Obviously it affects babies that age below two years where their mothers breastfeed them and sleep them directly right after or sometimes mummies breastfeed their babies while they are asleep which leave some milk in their mouths and without cleaning the baby’s tongue and teeth with a gauze pad and a silicon brush to prevent the growth of bacteria that secrete acids which cause damage and breakdown to the teeth.

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Moreover, Spreading education by affording oral care information helps in offering a better lifestyle for people to maintain good oral health(kay & Cravench,2008,p.477).

Malnutrition is another reason for having dental caries. Many people get confused when it comes to this topic. Malnutrition does not mean having no food to eat like in such countries, it is more like having a bad eating habit. It is the condition where the person do not get enough nutrients to meet the body’s need from the food eaten. In addition, not being aware of the types and importance of the nutrients that the food you consumes contain may lead to a reduction or deficiency of some vitamins and fiber. For example, calcium deficiency makes bones and teeth weak ,which can be affected by dental caries and tooth damage easily. Furthermore, low iron diets will force u to seek for another ways or sources to compensate this deficiency like drugs that are known of causing black spots and later tooth decay. It is important to know that the type of food you consume can increase the incidence of having dental caries. There is a study that shows a direct proportional relationship between fermentable carbohydrates intake and the expansion of tooth decay(sreebny,1982,p.330).

To sum up, there are many causes for getting dental caries such as poor oral hygiene, infant breastfeeding and malnutrition. It is important to mention that the rate of people who have suffer from dental caries is enormous and it will remain this way if we did not spread awareness among people and spot the light on this topic whether by posters, campaigns or even through television commercials and social media. Nevertheless, visiting dentists once every six months is recommended. Moreover, following up with a nutritionist can help in getting knowledge of nutrients in each type of food.