Medical Insider – Dr. Ria P. Maslog
July 16, 2023
Dental Carries
I wrote about dental carries before and since vacation for our school-aged children is
starting, I find it the proper time to request parents to give special attention to the
children’s dental health.
So, as we take care if our dental health, let us discuss “dental carries”.
“Dental Carries” means the decay of the teeth involving decalcification of the dental
tissues.
This is caused by bacteria especially the streptococci and is growing on substrate
such as fermentable carbohydrates in the teeth.
The different contributing factors to the development of “dental carries” are the:
- Age – “dental carries” is very common among children belonging to the 4 to 8
years old bracket in primary teeth and between 12 and 18 years old in permanent
teeth. - Diet – eating between meals allows food containing sucrose to provide substrate
for bacteria which adhere to the teeth and produce tooth- destroying acid. - Oral hygiene – lack of proper oral hygiene like brushing and flossing the teeth
allows food to collect on the teeth for the bacteria to act upon. - Flouride – the presence of flouride in the drinking water of more than 1.0ppm is
associated with less incidence of “dental carries”. Flouride content of 1.0 to 1.5 ppm
is ideal. Flouride content of over 2.0 to 2.5 ppm can cause mottling of the enamel
The following measures have to be followed to avoid “dental carries”:
- avoidance of snacks and eating in between meals
- avoidance of infant’s bedtime bottle
- proper oral hygiene like daily brushing of teeth and flossing
- regular visit to the dentist. They can have their first dental appointment as early as
the first tooth eruption.