What causes cavities in adult teeth?

Question

I take great care of my teeth, or so I thought. I brush my teeth at least 2-3 times a day, I floss a few times a week, and I have not had any cavities in over 20 years. Now all of a sudden I have not one but three cavities. Can anything other than poor dental care practices cause cavities?

Answer 1

I will try to make simple the decay process.

Too much sugar? Nope. You can eat all the sugar you want.... you just have to eat it quickly! and not go back for more too soon! Bacteria do nothing in your mouth until they have sugar. Different sugars do make a bit of difference but for the most part the bacteria immediately begin using sugar as soon as they are fed. They also store about a 1/2 hour supply.
So, upon getting sugar they begin to metabolize it and do what they do best with the energy...divide in half over and over again.
During this time there are waste products produced. Most notable is lactic ACID which softens teeth by removing MINERALS from them. If the sugar exposure is stopped, the acid production will stop within about a half hour when the stores are used up and the acid slowly dilutes out of the plaque. The softened teeth will just as readily harden back up using minerals floating around and actually may become harder than before the acid attack if less soluable minerals like FLUORIDE can be found. BUT, if you have more sugar before the half hour is up you will allow the demineralization process to continue and the teeth which were softened will now be stripped of more of their minerals and like paper soaked in water will begin to come apart.
No amount of brushing can remove all the bacteria. They will be there ready to multiply especially in cracks and crevises. Brushing too soon after a sugar treat may actually strip away softened tooth surfaces if done too aggressively.

Diet pop does NOT contain sugar. If you soak a tooth in any carbonated beverage it will dissolve. That is not decay. When we drink diet soda the acid is not left on the teeth for long and as a result the teeth soften little. Lemon on the other hand is a strong acid in comparision and can quickly "eat" enamel and cause erosion (not decay) especially noticable along the gumline where the enamel is thing and the more easily dissolved root is.

Fluoride makes teeth less soluable in acid. They do NOT dissolve better if they have a high fluorid content. In fact this is how fluoride was discovered. People with Brown Spotted teeth in Colorado, I believe, were found to have very little decay in their community. Fluoride was found in their water supply and the ideal amount that could be added without staining was determined. The rest is history.

Fluoride gets incorporated most easily into teeth that are developing in the body or are recovering from and acid attack.

Fluoride in water and pills goes into developing teeth in children and makes them more acid resistant when the erupt into the mouth. This gives the deepest protection.
Fluoride in toothpaste is absorbed only in the very outer layers of teeth. It acts as a reservoir when there is an acid attack. In the dental office ACIDulated fluoride is often used to create a controlled acid attack with Lots of fluoride around it to be used in the hardening back up stage. (no food or water for 1/2 hour)

When a woman is pregnant...She snacks more. Thus the weight gain. Carbs are turned into sugar by saliva enzymes. Bread left on teeth is soon sugar left on teeth...Makes DECAY. Teeth don't get soft by homone influence. Only acid influence.

Drugs don't cause decay. They cause you to eat poorly and crash with gobs of crap in your mouth. Acidic drugs like Meth smoke can cause EROSION of teeth. Look at a meth users teeth and see how pitted they are from the acid. Also they grind them like crazy and flatten them out. Vomit? Pretty acidic.

Poor genes? Teeth don't decay without acid. One may have low mineral content in their teeth but those teeth will wear out just by chewing normally.

Proteins don't come out with acid attacks. Minerals come out with acids. Proteins are left.

Juice has sugar and does cause decay. Dilute it?? Nope. The bacterial still get their half hour supply.

Fake sugar?? No decay.

Cough drops? SUGAR!!!! Use sugar free.

Coffee? Sugar free only. Creamers. Use sugar free.
Mocha's and cough drops are the bigges money makers for me these days. But there is one very bad thing out there these days that will probably take the number one spot. It is sour candy.
It gets the teeth soft immediatly and then the bacteria take over. So it is a double whammy and if you chew them they eat up the biting surfaces of the teeth as well.

Hope this helps someone.

Joe

Answer 2

Cavities are essentially a bacterial infection of the tooth. They can grow as a response to poor dental care, but also can be affected by poor nutrition. Bacteria thrives on refined sugar, and over-processed foods. The more you eat, the less time you need to have a problem. And, if you've had frequent bacterial infections in the mouth or throat, or really anywhere in the body, it could theoretically raise your risk of cavities.

High acid content can also increase the risk of cavities. Acidic situations occur most often if you drink a lot of soda pop, including diet drinks, and probably some other ways.

Fluorosis, an overdose of fluoride, can also make the enamel more brittle and porous, causing an increase in cavities, but that happens by age five, and generally produces lifelong brittle teeth, not just a sudden thing.

One way to strengthen teeth is to water your garden with fluoridated water. Teeth can't really absorb the type of fluoride in toothpaste or mouthwash, but plants can take it and convert it easily into the type that teeth can readily absorb.

Answer 3

What Causes Cavities

Answer 4

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The first thing that popped into my mind was that you have very thin enamel or no enamel at all. This would cause you to get many cavities and such because your teeth do not have the protection that they need as the enamel acts as a cover on your teeth to keep bacteria and other foreign substances out. A possible solution to this problem is to have your dentist place sealants on your teeth so as to give your teeth the protection that your enamel has lacked in giving. The best advice that i can give to you though is to talk to your dentist about it. i hope this helped.

Answer 5

Low saliva production can cause tooth decay but you would notice that very quickly because you would constantly have a dry mouth and other such symptoms. Also read the links below for extra information on cavities and their causes as well as dry mouth.

Answer 6

In women, things that change your hormone levels (pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, development of fibroids, menarche, menopause) can also cause cavities. My dentist told me that's why I suddenly started getting cavities after my daughter was born. Who knew?!?

Answer 7

Same thing as in chidren's teeth.

Microbes that feast on sugar make acid that eats away the enamel of teeth.

Answer 8

sugar. some people are more prone to cavities than others though. Drinking water regularly and avoiding sweets help significantly.

Answer 9

You need to look at your diet. What are you drinking or eating that has a high sugar (fermentable carbohydrate) content?? or is acidic??? such as juice. You should also be flossing daily. Do you suffer from a dry mouth???

Answer 10

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