Tooth Decay Prevention
Christiane Loell, dpa
Posted June 5, 2012
The attack comes after consumption of food and
drinks containing certain forms of sugar. If given the chance, the
multitude of bacteria in the mouth feed on the sugars and form
tooth-damaging acids. Little white spots appear at first, which can
darken and develop into painful cavities. The diagnosis: tooth decay.
The causes of tooth decay are quite complex. "So-called genetic
predisposition plays a minor role," said Dietmar Oesterreich, vice
president of the German Dental Association. "The main risk factors
are poor dental hygiene and an improper diet."
The acid-forming bacteria, mixed with food particles and saliva,
coat the teeth with a biofilm called dental plaque. The plaque should
be regularly removed.
"Preventing tooth decay depends on how effective dental hygiene
is," Oesterreich noted. "Twice a day thoroughly is better than four
times superficially. You can't get rid of the biofilm with oral
irrigation or mouthwashes alone. You've got to brush your teeth
properly."
Not smoking also helps because smoking reduces saliva flow; saliva
washes away food and plaque from the teeth.
Diet-related risks of tooth decay begin in infancy. Some small
children constantly have a bottle at hand from which they sip a
sugar-containing juice and many convenience and kids' foods hardly
require chewing.
"Chewing is a kind of dental self-cleaning. Mushy foods foster
formation of dental plaque," according to Christian Hirsch, president
of the German Society of Paediatric Dentistry.
How frequently sweets are eaten is more consequential than the
amount, according to Hirsch. "It's not necessary to forbid children
from eating sweets. My children eat sweets, too," he said, adding
that it was much unhealthier to nibble on a bag of jelly babies all
day than to eat an entire chocolate bar all at once. "The teeth need
periods when they're not subjected to acid attacks."
Besides a low-sugar diet, fluoride is seen as providing protection
against tooth decay. "Fluoride strengthens the hard surface (enamel)
of the teeth and negatively affects bacterial metabolism, thereby
helping to prevent tooth decay and repair incipient damage,"
Oesterreich said.
From the appearance of the first primary tooth until age two,
parents should brush their children's teeth once a day with a dab of
fluoridated children's toothpaste. After age two, it is advisable to
brush them twice a day with children's toothpaste.
Paediatricians and dentists differ on the form in which fluoride
is best taken, noted Hirsch. "Paediatrians favour tablets, and
dentists toothpaste," he said, adding that tablets had definitely
been proven to work, but not as well as toothpaste, which is applied
directly to the teeth.
"Pediatricians are afraid that too much fluoride can get into the
body of a child who swallows the toothpaste," Hirsch explained.
According to the German government-backed Institute for Quality
and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), excessive fluoride can impede
the growth of children's permanent teeth. This easily occurs, it
said, particularly if they swallow toothpaste or tooth gel. Hirsch,
however, said that excess fluoride could indeed cause problems with
the mineralization of permanent teeth, but not by swallowing
toothpaste.
Eighty per cent of the tooth decay in children occurs in the
grooves and pits of the back teeth (molars and premolars), Hirsch
said. These surfaces can be prophylactically sealed, which is usually
done with a thin coating of plastic.
Copyright 2012 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
|
|