How to prevent Cavities

Under the best of conditions, teeth can last our entire lives without cavities, all you need to do is cultivate good dental hygiene from childhood and there will be no reason for cavities to appear in your teeth.  You also will be able to avoid cracks, stain, and any sort of illness.

Why do we get cavities?

There are substances and germs in the mouth that turn components of food we eat into acids, especially sugar.  Once we consume sugar is it quickly turned into acid.  This acid is primarily responsible for attacking tooth enamel and cause weakness or cracks in teeth.  If this acid continues, or is constant, it will cause a hole in the tooth which is known as cavities.

The truth is cavities are not dangerous and they can be effectively treated by your dentist.  However, it’s best to avoid cavities so that your teeth stay strong and healthy during your whole life.  So here we will give you a guide for avoiding cavities, to keep your child from suffering from them and to prevent repetitive dental appointments due to cavities.  You will save money in appointments with these tips, as well as saving yourself from pain and dental discomforts.

Follow this infallible advice for living without cavities:

1. Avoid consuming white sugar, along with sodas or sugar-sweetened beverages.  As said before, sugar is one of the most harmful products for teeth.  If you can’t keep your children from eating sugar, at least decrease the frequency and the amount they consume, and when they do eat sugar, try to make them brush their teeth well afterwards.  If this isn’t possible because you’re out and about, give them a few drinks of fresh water to rinse their mouth.

2. Do not eat throughout the day.  Schedule 3 or 4 times a day to eat, and do not eat between meals.

3. Brush your teeth: one of the most repeated recommendations by dentists is to follow good dental hygiene by brushing your teeth three times a day.  However, it has been shown that a large part of the population only brushes their teeth at night, sometimes in the morning, and only a few times throughout the day.  Brushing should be done effectively after eating.  We recommend carrying a portable toothbrush in your purse so you can brush your teeth wherever you go.  If, for whatever reason, you can brush your teeth, try to drink plain water to eliminate food residue from your mouth as much as possible, until you can brush your teeth.

4. Floss: this is necessary in order to reach areas around the teeth that your toothbrush can’t get.  You should use dental floss daily, once should be enough,especially at night so that your teeth are perfectly clean before going to bed.  When you eat cookies, refined grains, or pastries, you absolutely must floss as these foods generally stay strapped in hidden areas around your teeth.

5. After washing your teeth, use fresh water with a few drops of lemon to refresh your mouth.  This will also help prevent cavities because, even though you may not believe it, lemon is a wonderful anti-cavity.

6. Chew your food well to prevent residue from being deposited in your teeth.

7. Massage your gums once in a while, from top to bottom.  This will promote good blood circulation in your mouth and will help prevent sickly gums and cavities.

8. Whenever you drink some sort of citrus drink, like fruit juice, soda, etc., drink water afterwards to rinse the acids from your mouth.

9. Never allow your child to go to bed without brushing their teeth.  During the night, this concentration of acid is usually very aggressive with tooth enamel.  If your child feels sleepy or lazy, make up something creative that they can get used to doing.  Try not to fight with them, talk to them about what happens in their mouth when they don’t wash their teeth, and about how painful it is to get cavities.  This will make them more aware of the importance of this habit.

10. Pay attention as to whether or not the water contains fluoride, and ask your dentist if applying fluoride will be necessary.

11. Consume foods rich in calcium and vitamin C, keeping in mind that cow’s milk is not the only food that contains them.  Broccoli, almonds, almond milk, dark green vegetables, etc., are all foods rich in calcium and do not harm the stomach, like cow’s milk does.

12. Whenever you can, eat vegetables raw and chew them well.  This is a natural tooth cleaning exercise, as the vegetable fibers brush filth from the mouth.

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