Tell Me Again Why My Child Has A Cavity!?

It's disturbing to hear that your child has developed a cavity when you know he or she brushes morning and night. And flosses once a day! How can that be possible? You've always been told that brushing and flossing prevents cavities. It does, however, unfortunately there is more to it than that.

Besides the usual cavity causing villians: diet, poor brushing and oral hygiene practices, there are other factors involved in the occurrence of the dreaded cavity. First of all, let's look at the tooth itself. What is the quality of the enamel? How thick is it? Are there deep pits and fissures in the shape and surface of the tooth? How much fluoride is the tooth exposed to? Many bottled waters do not contain fluoride. Then there is the saliva. What is the mineral content of the saliva? How effective is the buffering capacity of the saliva against cavity producing bacteria? Is the saliva supersaturated with calcium and phosphorus? Is the principle buffer, bicarbonate, present in sufficient quantities and functioning in a healthy manner? Other factors that can reduce the body's resistance to cavity development are medication, disease, dehydration, radiation and age. Still other factors involved are racial ethnicity, socioeconomic status, behavioral education, general health and stress. Then there are those pesky genetic markers that predispose an individual to cavities. There is a significant association between markers on genes for ameloginin and tuftelin, which are the proteins found in developing enamel in teeth and are involved in the strength of the tooth development.

Phew! As you can see, many of these factors neither you, the dental team, nor the child have direct control over. What you and your child do have control over is how often and how well your child flosses and brushes and how often you make it to your dental checkup. Yet, as we have just seen, even with regular flossing and brushing there are many variables involved in developing cavities. The chance of getting a cavity is greatly reduced with good oral hygiene, a healthy diet, drinking lots of water, plenty of rest, exercise and regular visits to the pediatric dentist. Those factors are under your control. Regular visits to the pediatric dentist are very important, but nothing replaces a focused and concerted effort to clean your child's teeth - front, back and in between!

Now that you know some of what contributes to cavities, consider all that you do not have control over. Brushing and flossing are important components of daily oral hygiene and if only it were that simple! Unfortunately, what you do have control over doesn't give you a guarantee that your child will never develop a cavity. Your pediatric dental team is here to help you catch those cavities early if they develop and help your child stay healthy.

Posted by Linda M. Manning, MEd, RN, LPC-S, RPT-S
October 15, 2009