What Are The Misconceptions About Dental Caries?
Tooth decay is one of the most misunderstood subjects, and often interpreted differently by everyone.
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Despite being one of the most common health problem experienced by children as well as adults all over the world, Dental caries is still misunderstood by many.
In my last four years as a Dental Student, we have had many patients come up to us with wild theories about their tooth decay.
I would often hear “We are doing everything right, then how come we still end up with a decayed tooth?” or “ I have been brushing my kid's teeth every hour, but he is still sensitive to hot and cold”.
Hence, it was time I addressed some of the most common misconceptions about dental caries that people have come to me with, and what the actual truth is.
1. Dental caries only occurs in children.
Caries has nothing to do with childhood. You can get carries at any age. It’s just a combination of the accumulation of certain bacteria on your teeth and being fed the sugar that they need to do the damage.
What you can do?
- You can stop the accumulation of bacteria by brushing your teeth twice a day.
- Reduce sugar intake.
2. Dividing my sugar into parts can protect me from caries.
Believe it or not, Dental caries has got to do a lot more with frequency than quantity.
If person A eats 10 chocolates all at once and person B eats only 5 chocolates throughout the day, with short intervals, who do you think is more likely to get carries?
Person B. Because every time you eat the chocolates, it coats your teeth all over again, supplying the bacteria with their energy to drill holes into your teeth.
