Tooth Decay

The buzzing emptiness of the dentist’s office lulls the child to sleep in his chair. His mouth is covered with a mask, and he breathes in the laughing gas that calms him and gives his surroundings an unreal quality. Before he closes his eyes, he stares hungrily at the jars in the corner on the dentist’s desk—jars of suckers, of stickers, and he stares less hungrily at the jars of dental floss that the doctor will enthusiastically hand him once his cavity has been filled.

This is an image which we commonly associate with dentist offices. Children—candy-eating, cookie jar- ra iding kids—who don’t like to bathe and don’t like to brush (their hair or their teeth) are the most common victims of tooth decay, we think. But this isn’t the case—tooth decay can affect everyone, even those in the prime of their life, and even those who consider themselves aging, but healthy.

You don’t have to munch chocolate constantly to harm your teeth—this result can be achieved simply by aging. As you grow older, changes occur all throughout your body, and not the least in your mouth. These changes foster tooth decay. The gums recede from the teeth, displaying parts of your tooth roots. These roots have no protective enamel, and thus are easier for plaque to get at than the actual tooth. Plaque is made of food debris, saliva, and the usual bacteria of the mouth, and is used to make food into acids. However, when the sticky substance collects around the gum line and into the crevices of the teeth, it can cause decay by hardening into a substance called tartar and wearing away at the tooth’s protective enamel.

Cavities can also form because of dry mouth—a condition caused by the decrease of saliva.

There are certain parts of the mouth that are more prone to decay than others. Teeth that are very close together, for example, can decay more easily than others because they’re harder to clean.

Another belief revolving around cavities and tooth decay is that these are much less of problems these days. But despite the widespread modern image of the smiling medieval peasant, his blackened teeth jutting in angles out of his mouth, tooth decay was a rare occurrence before the 1700s brought the spread of sugar plantations in the Americas . As sugar became more available, cavities-- called ‘caries’ in the dental community, from the Latin word ‘rot’—followed.

But even though the middle-aged can easily fall prey to decay, it is still true that children and the elderly are the most susceptible to this particular form of rot. Even the youngest of children can start feeling its effects, due to baby bottle tooth decay, which affects infants who often go to sleep with their bottles. Although putting one’s child to sleep with sweetened milk or fruit juice can seem healthy enough, the sticky sweetness of those drinks work on the child’s mouth while she is sleeping and g ra dually cause decay. As you can see, it is essential to watch out for the health of your teeth—even before you have any. More about baby teething

Courtesy of freelance writer Fashion McDougal