Dental decay and conquering cavities: What your patients probably don't know
Your patients understand the concept of cavities, but probably not much beyond that—and there's a lot to know. Here, Barbara Tritz breaks down hard facts about soft teeth.
Back in 2014, I wrote a blog post for parents about conquering kids’ cavities. I wrote a companion to the post some years later when my oldest daughter became a mom and had some questions about decay. The hard facts about soft teeth aren’t easy for parents to hear, but it’s information they need from us just the same.
Everyone knows that sugar and plaque cause tooth decay, and most patients have gotten the “brush better” lecture—many times. These are important, but there’s so much more that we need to be sharing. For example, do you think most of your patients know that ...
Tooth decay is not benign. It infects other parts of the body.
Tooth decay bacteria are contagious, which makes tooth decay a family problem.
Tooth decay is not inevitable. It’s not just a foregone part of “growing older.”
Nutrition is a true key to controlling and preventing tooth decay.
We need to go beyond just “brushing better” and instead, look for the causes of tooth decay. The cavity is just the end result. The more you know, the better you can help your patients stop decay before it starts.
Barbara is a biological dental hygienist, oral microbiome specialist, international speaker, and author with more than 40 years of clinical experience. She practices at Green City Dental in Edmonds, Washington. Barbara serves on the IAOMT Board and is chair of the IAOMT Dental Hygiene Committee. Her biological dental hygiene work focuses on microscopy, salivary diagnostics, oxygen-ozone therapy, airway health, host response, and root-cause approaches to oral-systemic health. Visit QueenofDentalHygiene.net.
