BY DR SPARKMAN

FERGUSON

Registrar-Bahamas Dental Council

RECENTLY, I have read many Internet articles from different sources sharing a message that the dental profession has been covering up a lie about dental decay. The supposed lie is that sugary foods, having been digested by mouth bacteria, produce acids, which corrode the enamel of the teeth leading to tooth decay. Some messages have gone as far as suggesting that “cures” had been found for tooth decay. Needless to say, these cures have not been substantiated.

The proven truth, however, remains. The consumption of high levels of refined sugar products and neglecting to thoroughly clean away the sugar from the enamel is eventually responsible for tooth decay.

It is amazing that there are so many synonyms for “dental caries”. These synonyms include cavities, tooth decay and rotten teeth. As a matter of fact, most people don’t know what dental doctors are speaking about when we use the term “caries”. They are more accustomed to the other designations, which came along as descriptive slangs over time. The most famous reference is “cavities” which, in my opinion, is a harmless word to describe a very bad disease. This singular word has minimised the horrors of dental caries, and has certainly contributed towards causing people to ignore the seriousness of the disease.

Teeth are made of the hardest substance found in the human body, so much so that if a dead body with healthy teeth was exhumed, the teeth would still be virtually intact. From this perspective, it is very difficult to conceive how while living, that a person’s teeth can actually rot in their mouth.

Dental caries is a disease like any other that requires treatment. Most adults with carious teeth do not see themselves harbouring a “real disease”. This view of this particular disease has caused many to lose their natural teeth.

Caries behaves like a cancer in a tooth. It is not cancer of a tooth, but it shares two characteristics of cancer in that it attacks normal body tissue and it can kill its host (the tooth).

As with any health matter, early detection is paramount, and for teeth it is no different. There is no substitute for detecting caries other than regular dental visits. Because of the high-refined sugar diets of the average person, these regular visits are even needed more. Early detection can bring early intervention of this destructive disease.

The good news about dental caries lies in its early detection and treatment. Treatment entails elimination of the rotting sections of teeth and restoring the teeth to their normal appearance and function. This is accomplished in several ways depending on the pre-treatment condition of a tooth. Sometimes a simple tooth coloured composite material restores a tooth. In teeth where there has been huge destruction, a complete covering of the tooth with a crown may be necessary.

Failure to restore a carious tooth always leads downhill. The patient always has a toothache, risks losing a tooth or needs to invest in root canal therapy (treatment to remove painful nerves from a tooth).

The purpose of dental health education in this article is to create an awareness of the consequences of ignoring one’s teeth, and point persons toward healthy preventive measures. These healthy preventive measures preserve teeth and also save unnecessary inconveniences and money.