Dentist in Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta dentist
What causes cavities?
For us to understand how dental caries are produced it is important to know what happens in the oral cavity normally. Saliva is very important and most often goes underestimated, but saliva has a major role in the protection of your teeth. Saliva acts like a sponge that cleans the teeth, it also contains minerals that strengthen the tooth plus has a role of protection against virus and bacteria through the immunoglobulin A found in its composition. Dental plaque is a substance that sticks to your teeth that contains bacteria and dead skin cells, dental plague is formed when bacteria is trying to stick to the tooth, it usually formed in the first hour after meals. As time goes by and you don’t properly wash your teeth the plaque thickens. Bacteria is one of the main cavity-creating agents. Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus are the ones to blame for the apparition of caries. It is recommended to consult your dentist in Puerto Vallarta for the best cleaning routines.
How are cavities formed? Well, bacteria from the moth feeds off the leftover foods in your mouth and multiplies. When you eat foods full of sugars and carbohydrates, bacteria’s use it to feed and to produce acids that attack the enamel. Not only sweets can affect your teeth, but all foods that contain carbohydrates, including glucose and fructose. The more you eat daily the more your teeth are prone to cavities. Saliva has the capacity to neutralize 3 or 4 acid attacks daily, but if you eat more sugary snacks than that the saliva is rendered useless. Acids will start to dissolve calcium and phosphate crystals on the outside of the tooth, leading in a first phase only to a slight demineralization that looks like a white spot on the tooth. In this phase the white spot can be stopped from evolving into caries by applying fluoride or casein gels and creams. All this must be discussed prior with your dentist in Puerto Vallarta.
If the white spots aren’t treated on time they can become caries and after that the damage is done. The cavity must be cleaned and treated by a dentist. If cavities are not treated on time they can worsen, and lead to complications like losing the vitality of the tooth or even the whole tooth. That is why it is highly important to treat cavities in the early stages. This is where periodical visits to the dentist in Puerto Vallarta come in.
To prevent caries we must have a thorough hygiene, brush and flossing daily combined with mouthwash and periodic visits to the dentists. Also a healthy diet is very important. Hard foods help stimulate the saliva flow and keep the teeth healthy. Cheese and nuts are also foods that protect against cavities. We should avoid in our diets sugary foods like jellies, toffees and pastries. They tend to stick to the teeth and the more they stick the more the cavities are prone to appear. Brushing regularly avoids prolonged contact of sticky foods to teeth and helps improve your overall hygiene.