Decay is still one of the most prevalant diseases known to man. The good news is that decay is preventable. Your diet, home care and preventive dentistry all play a part in keeping your teeth strong and healthy for the whole of your life. While the degree to which each of these three factors has a varying influence on each individual it is important to know which are most relevant for you. We like to diagnose the level of your decay rate and work on curing the causes before starting treatment. It just doesn't make economic sense to keep having more and more fillings to patch your teeth, or eventually loose them, when you can prevent decay.

Diet plays a key role in dental decay. Sugars plus bacterial plaque, "Bugs", eat the sugars that we eat and turn it into acid that dissolves away the calcium in our teeth. Once there is a small hole or roughness on our teeth that cannot be cleaned by a brush or floss other bacteria take up residence and the process accelerates. The development of these decays can be quite quick but usually take many years to get close enough to the nerve to become noticeable. I am finding many instances where a person has been unaware of decay until it is starting to hurt to find at an examination that the tooth is hollow and difficult to save.

Some predisposing factors I have found besides sugar and sweets are diet drinks, chewable vitamin C tablets, gastric reflux and even some fruits. The acid and sugar content of some of our foods and drinks can be quite a surprise. Some home treatments may be applicable. These can protect your teeth and in some cases heal the initial decays.

Correct home care is your best defence against dental disease. Removal of the bacterial plaque by brushing and flossing is essential to dental health. Correct brushing and flossing is quite difficult until the correct habits are formed. Having a clear knowledge of how it is best to clean your teeth is best taught on an individual basis as areas you need to concentrate on are not always obvious until you have had a comprehensive examination. Some people need extra help where a special toothpaste or mouthwash may be needed.

Modern preventive dentistry has made some recent advances. The traditional method of waiting until a decay becomes "big enough" to drill a hole big enough to hold a silver filling are swiftly being overtaken by early interceptive microdentistry techniques. These include new decay detection methods and new stronger white filling materials.