Plaque-The Weak Link

Plaque-The Weak Link

If we are going to stop dental disease, let's target the weak link. We need four ingredients to create a cavity. A tooth, some bacteria (plaque), food for the bacteria, and time for the bacteria to make the hole.

So, eliminating the tooth would be an undesirable way to prevent cavities. Food is essential to life, although we have a lot to do in bringing the American diet back to healthful. We obviously are not going to eliminate simple carbohydrate from our diet. The only way I know to eliminate time from the equation is also an undesirable option. That leaves the bacteria as the easiest ingredient to target.

Plaque research has identified and described this incredibly complex organization of 600+ different kinds of bacteria called plaque. With over 600 different bacteria, it is impossible to create a vaccine or anti-biotic that can wipe it out. Because of the defense mechanisms developed by this complex organization of bacteria, it is also impossible to create vaccines or antibiotics that will target specific groups of bacteria within the plaque. However, the very complexity of the plaque becomes its weakness when we are preventing cavities. We merely need to disturb the organization, the village as it were, and it has to rebuild and reorganize before it can concentrate acid to dissolve holes in our teeth. Cleaning teeth does not remove bacteria from the mouth, it gets the plaque off the teeth and this disorganizes it.

It then takes plaque a minimum of 24 hours to reorganize and begin concentrating acid again. Your teeth are "safe" for 24 hours. Think of your job as scrambling the bacteria off your teeth. You don't need a new section of floss between each tooth because you are just scrambling it off your teeth.

All you need is a way to "see" the plaque so you can teach yourself a fast and efficient way to clean your teeth daily. See our website or blog about disclosing bacteria. Thoroughly effective tooth and gums cleaning can be as little as 2 min. each day. One good effective tooth cleaning each day will protect you for 24 hours.

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Setting Your Child’s Cavity Risk Early

Few people realize that cavities are the result of a contagious disease. As infants, when we are teething those precious little baby teeth, we are also being exposed to the kinds of bacteria that cause cavities. These bacteria typically come from our closest caretakers, like moms, dads, nannies and siblings. Typically via slobbery kisses, shared spoons, and other close encounters. It is inevitable so don’t panic about it. However, there are numerous ways to insure this contagion will not destroy your child’s teeth.

First, reduce the amount of bad bacteria being transferred to the child. Parents with clean healthy mouths and no recent cavities will have fewer of the cavity causing bacteria in their saliva. Learn how to truly clean your teeth when brushing and flossing. Also, if you are a gum chewer or mint popper, find Xylitol gum and mints on the internet and health food stores. There are numerous studies showing dramatic reduction of the cavity causing bacteria in the mouths of those who put Xylitol (a natural sweetener) in their mouths several times daily.

Secondly, don’t feed those bacteria and promote their growth. These bacteria thrive on sugars and simple carbohydrates (cooked starch). It has been shown that frequent (frequency is the issue here!) exposure to simple carbohydrates promotes the preferred growth of the cavity causing bacteria (mutans streptococcus, sobrinus streptococcus, etc.). If we promote these bacteria early, they establish in high numbers and will continue to be in high numbers in the saliva and on teeth for a lifetime. Juice is an especially common mistake in sippy cups and bottles. Let’s not do that to our children. When your children are ready to give up milk and formula in the bottle, move to water. Do not, I repeat, do not start them on juice or any other sweetened beverage when they move away from milk, unless your pediatrician has specifically written a prescription for your child to have juice because of some metabolic reason. Ask your pediatrician and they will confirm this. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not support the use of juice as a snack or hydration beverage until age 4. Even at age 4 there is a word of caution and recommendation for continued use of water.

Thirdly, clean your child’s teeth effectively each day. It has been shown that the more the plaque (a biofilm of over 600 different bacteria) builds on the teeth, the more it promotes the acid loving bacteria that cause cavities. By simply disrupting this biofilm each day and forcing it to rebuild will prevent it from maturing to the level that it harbors and promotes the growth of the acid loving bacteria that make cavities. As the plaque matures and stagnates, it supports acid loving bacteria which begin to flourish and dominate the plaque. As acid loving bacteria numbers grow, they begin to control the plaque growth and with a higher balance in the saliva, they cause a more rapid maturing of the plaque into a destructive acid loving plaque which dissolves holes in the calcium rich enamel of your teeth. Once established, this balance can be extremely hard to change and may remain for a lifetime. Don’t let it start.

Give your kids a healthy start. Help them become water drinkers as a habit and you will create a lifetime of better health for them. Clean the gum line and between teeth daily to promote a healthier bacterial balance in your mouth’s dental biofilm. If you like gum or mints, discover Xylitol.