Tooth Decay Research Paper

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CAUSES of TOOTH DECAY Cavities are caused by tooth decay which is a process that develops slowly but steadily due to following reasons: 1. Plaque: Dental plaque is a clear sticky film causing a coating on the teeth. Plaque formation is due to carbohydrates primarily which contains sugar and starch and is further aggravated by not removing the layer from the tooth. When the carbohydrates are not cleaned off from the teeth, bacteria start colonizing the teeth quickly and harden with salivary salts leading to a further hard plaque or tartar a.k.a. the calculus. Tartar makes plaque more difficult to remove and creates an environment for bacteria to colonize further leading to more plaque formation from leftover food particles. 2. Recurrent Plaque…show more content…
Location: Decay predominantly happens in molars and premolars as they have lots of grooves, pits, fissures, crannies, which harbour a lot of food particles and bacteria. The pits and fissures make cleaning access also difficult in such teeth. 2. Sticky Diet or the Sugary foods and drinks: Sticky liquids like milk, ice cream, honey, sugar, cakes, cookies, hard candies and chips etc. are more likely to cause decay than those foods that are easily washed away by saliva. 3. Frequent munching, snacking or sipping: Regular munching, snacks or sipping sugary drinks can keep the mouth in acidic environment by giving bacteria more fuel to produce acids that attack the teeth and wear them down. Sipping on acidic drinks like coke, pepsi or colas throughout the day also creates a continual acid bath over the teeth thus making them more prone to decay. 4. Baby Bottle syndrome a.k.a. bedtime infant feeding: Baby bottle is one thing which should be banned as babies given bedtime bottles filled with milk, juice or other sugary liquids cause baby bottle or nursing bottle caries also known as the rampant caries. 5. Infrequent and Inadequate brushing: Brushing not done after regular meals is a cardinal sin as plaque formation happens and the decay journey starts. More than half of the country brushes just early morning which is akin to no brushing at all in the

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