Everyone is prone to suffer from tooth decay. However, it can be prevented/controlled by proper dental hygiene and a wholesome diet.
Dental caries or tooth decay refers to a gradual deterioration in the state of a person’s oral health, which is brought about due to the tooth enamel giving away. This damage of the tooth structure linked to decomposition can result in holes forming in the teeth, which are generally known as cavities.
Causes of Tooth Decay
Very frequently, the choice of diet and dental hygiene habits are instrumental in causing tooth decay.
The majority of the foods consumed by us are rich in starches and sugars. If not properly cleaned, and food particles remain on the teeth, then plaque (the glutinous substance that develops on teeth) mixes with the bacteria residing in the mouth. It is this mixture that generates acids, which destroy the tooth enamel leading to tooth decay.
The Role Of Diet and Nutrition in Tooth Decay
Adhering to a wholesome dietary regime with good nutrition is vital for advancing proper dental hygiene and preventing tooth decay. Drinks and food that contain elevated levels of sugars are far more likely to produce the acid that damages the tooth enamel leading to decay. Restricting drinks and foods that have high levels of sugar and carbonation could aid in checking tooth decay and enhance dental hygiene.

Now, this got me really reeling! It’s been a long established fact by the dental profession that fluoride and fluoridated products are really good for teeth. According to the old school of research, fluoride was readily absorbed by the outer surface of teeth called as enamel to make a really hard coating .This made the tooth stronger and more resistant to cavities. But a few theories floating around the internet are giving me second thoughts! Fluoride’s anti cavity properties have made it popular enough to be added to mouthwashes, toothpastes, as well as the water supply of nearly 47 states of the US since the 1940′s.But the story behind the discovery of fluoride is really surprising. A few years ago, fluoride was one of the most dangerous by products of the explosive, fertilizers and aluminum industry. It was produced in excess and extremely difficult to store and dispose. A single scientist, working for the American Aluminum Company, was credited with discovering these so called beneficial effects of the fluoride. The American Aluminum Company was at the time one of the biggest manufactures of fluoride as the waste by product.

Kinda seems fishy!

Oral hygiene is a very important step for a healthy life. Children follow their parent’s examples and if you have good oral hygiene; it naturally follows that your child will pick up the same habits. Dental care should start as early as possible to prevent development of cavities. Most of the children tend to form cavities in their school years. As a parent it’s your responsibility to impart proper guidance on dental care, to your kids.Here are a few tips on how to manage dental care in a small baby. You can follow the following steps to have problem free teeth for your kid.

• Decaying in teeth can starts before the tooth comes out. Use a wash cloth to wipe your infant’s gums after consuming milk or any other liquid food.
• Before your baby go to sleep, wipe off all the milk from the mouth and gums.
• The dental care for your baby after developing his/her first tooth is pretty easy. You can use soft infant tooth brush, and baby tooth paste to clean his/her teeth two times a day.
• It is always advisable to show your baby to a London dentist after getting the first tooth.
• For children, if they have knocked out their tooth while playing, take the tooth and the child to the dentist, he will help you to put it back again.
• If your kid has any orthodontic problem. You can start treatment after your kids turn seven or eight years of age.

I’m always ready to admit that I’m the eternal skeptic but this really blows my mind here! Can holistic dentistry really be good for the patient or is it just another scam dreamed up by savvy practioners to milk you out of your hard earned money? I don’t really know but I usually carry a healthy disbelief in any thing new so I decided its time to research this new fad thoroughly before it takes the world and London by storm! Here’s what I learned!• Dentists who practice the “holistic” or “biological” type of dentistry claim that the body can be moved away form the state of disease by making sure that the body is perfectly healthy and well. If the body remains healthy there will be no cavities.
• Many dentist may use useless and difficult to understand tests like badly chosen diagnostic tests, prescriptions for costly dietary supplements or even homeopathic products, some may even recommend a plastic bite appliance, removal of perfectly good amalgam fillings as well as the removal of perfectly good root-canal-treated teeth.
• A few really dubious tests which can be done are hair analysis, or a detailed dietary analysis, several blood chemistry screening tests as well as muscle strength testing. None of these tests are recommended for use with dentists and some of them are not even recognized by scientists as legitimate.
• A few hundred dentists also claim mercury filings are toxic can cause health problems like sclerosis, headaches, chronic diseases, as well as mental and emotional stress. Some times they recommend removal of these fillings and replacements with other filing materials.

When your child transitions from a baby bottle to a sippy cup, this is a big development. The dentists in London make a very strong note to all parents to not give juices to their kids in sippy cups.The reason behind this fact is that as long as those juices or sugary drinks stay in the sippy cups, it is for that period of time that your toddler is going to be exposed to them, which is a major contributor to cause cavities.

Therefore it is expressed time and time again by London dentists to all the parents that they should give water to their toddlers in the sippy cups instead. The juices or sugary drinks only cause the kids to be at high risk for tooth decay.

There are some important facts that parents should always take into consideration and this includes to never ever let your child sleep with a sippy cup having any sugary drink, they should only be given water.

At meal time, sippy cups should always contain water. Another important fact that needs to be taken into consideration is that sippy cups are not to be used for a prolonged period of time in a day.

Using sippy cups for your toddlers is a major landmark and it is the time when most care is needed to prevent your child from developing any tooth problems at such a young age. Prevention now can avert serious dental conditions from happening in future.

Kaitlin came complaining to me, “Hello Doctor! I am surprised to see cavities in teeth of my 3 year old kid.”I know that children’s dental health is one area that most families and parents today need to focus on. These days I am treating more and more younger patients having cavities in their primary teeth. So I gazed the young lady’s anxiety.

First off, I appreciated her for being a parent that she is. I know of many parents that ignore the same problem assuming that it is only to the baby teeth and that they eventually will fall out resulting in better teeth. However, they are not aware of the fact that it is far from truth. Dental experts like me would know that cavities at such age would result in several complications including loss of tooth/teeth at early age, development of crooked teeth, speech and hearing problems, and most of all poor confidence and self-image. In fact a child as young as 1 year old should make its first visit to dentist and brushing should start from 2 years of age and supervised till 6 years when the child is learned to do it on its own. I explained to the anxious mother about several factors that are contributing to this increased problem, such as an upsurge in the sugary snacks and increased use of water that is non-fluoridated. I also told her that today’s children spend little time than required for brushing.

As a dental care specialist I tried to convince her of the fact that it’s not an easy feat to imparting dental hygiene to kids of that small age but one can always try by all means to take this challenge. I gave Kaitlin some handy tips and asked her to follow them diligently and reassured her that her child will not be one to visit me frequently.

Floss regularly right from age the kid started to show eruption of first two teeth.

Emphasized on the importance of flossing the molars, as they lay closely spaced to one another than the incisors or canines.

Parents’ supervision and assistance while brushing is essential until the kid attains age of 6. Here, parents should educate their kids of right technique of brushing teeth.

Change brush once every 3 months. Additionally, change the brush if the child suffered a throat infection.

To make brushing a fun event go for kid-friendly paste flavors and give a brush that is adorned with their favorite toon characters.

Last, every parent to stand as example than mere educator. Brush two times daily. Gargle after every snacking.

Kaitlin left my room convinced.