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Cavities/Dental Caries
Published in Charles Theisler, Adjuvant Medical Care, 2023
A buildup of food and bacteria forms a film called plaque on the teeth. Tooth decay, also known as dental caries or cavities, occurs when bacterial acids in the plaque digest carbohydrates (sugars and starches) left on the teeth. Over time these same acids can dissolve the surface of the tooth causing holes, called cavities, in the enamel and dentin. It is possible to prevent a cavity when decay has made holes in a tooth’s enamel but has not yet reached the dentin. Tooth decay is influenced by what we eat and drink and how well we take care of our teeth. If tooth decay is not treated, it can cause pain, infection, and tooth loss.
Controversies in Childhood Nutrition
Published in Fima Lifshitz, Childhood Nutrition, 2020
An often-heard recommendation is that we should eliminate, as much as possible, all simple sugars from the diet in order to reduce diabetes, tooth decay, and in particular, hyperactivity in children. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that simple sugars are by themselves responsible for any of these conditions. Diabetes in children is a genetically restricted disorder, and children with diabetes must match their diets and their insulin injections to produce normal serum glucose levels. There is nothing to suggest, however, that non-diabetic children are put at risk for diabetes from eating sugar. The development of tooth decay depends upon the presence of bacteria and substrate in the oral cavity. The prevention of tooth decay can best be achieved through good oral hygiene and the presence of fluoride in the diet or supplementation in the water or in toothpaste. Simple sugars do not appear to be any more cariogenic than complex sugars in promoting tooth decay. Finally, hyperactivity is unrelated to sugar or carbohydrates in the diet. Those children with true attention deficit disorder often require pharmacologic agents for adequate treatment. Running and jumping around is normal behavior during childhood and may be intensified at times when children are gathered with their friends and eat sweetened foods such as cookies and cake. Some children in fact may be so delighted in getting a piece of cookie or finally getting their parents to provide them with a piece of cake that they go a bit overboard.
Promotion of Preventive Measures
Published in Lars Granath, William D. McHugh, Systematized Prevention of Oral Disease: Theory and Practice, 2019
Alice M. Horowitz, P. Jean Frazier
Based on the previous chapters of this text, it is clear that existing preventive methods resulting from biomedical research can prevent or control the two major oral diseases — dental caries and periodontal diseases. The appropriate use of fluorides and pit and fissure sealants can nearly eliminate tooth decay.13,14,17 Moreover, the initiation and progression of periodontal diseases can be controlled to a greater degree than at present with improved plaque removal, using oral hygiene devices such as toothbrushes or chew sticks and, in the future, through the availability and use of chemotherapeutic agents, such as chlorhexidine, for the control of dental plaque.4,16,20
Streptococcus mutans-associated bacteria in dental plaque of severe early childhood caries
Published in Journal of Oral Microbiology, 2022
Yixin Zhang, Jiakun Fang, Jingyi Yang, Xiaolei Gao, Liying Dong, Xuan Zheng, Liangjie Sun, Bin Xia, Na Zhao, Zeyun Ma, Yixiang Wang
For decades, S. mutans has been considered the main causative agent of dental caries. However, recent studies uncovered that S. mutans was detectable with high abundance only in a part of caries cases. In some cases with caries, S. mutans level was low abundance or even undetectable. This means there have other bacteria must be involved in the process of caries occurrence. It has been proved that other oral species can act synergistically to increase their pathogenic effect, and some other microbial species may play a vital role in the process of tooth decay. Therefore, determining the importance of S. mutans in caries development requires a comprehensive consideration of its virulence factors. The abundance of species might not be the sole predictor for caries and links among species can be exploited to discriminate caries status in the models [15].
Effectiveness and safety of Bifidobacterium in preventing dental caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Published in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2021
Siyuan Hao, Jiahe Wang, Yan Wang
A qualitative description was made because the two studies conducted by Taipale et al. used DMF (Decayed, Missing, Filled) [32] and International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), respectively, for assessments [33]. Taipale et al. respectively administered Bifidobacterium or sorbitol (placebo) to 55 and 54 infants with an average duration of 14.9 months, from 1 to 2 months of age, through a sustained-release pacifier or tablet [32]. When examined at 8 months and 2 years of age, the deciduous teeth of both groups had a DMF of 0. Taipale et al. also followed up the children and re-evaluated them when they were four years old, using the ICDAS, to assess the incidence of deciduous tooth decay in 32 children in the test group and 29 in the control group [33]. The results revealed that the incidence of enamel caries (ICDAS code 2–3) and significant dentine caries (ICDAS code 4–6) in the test group was even higher than that in the control group, but it did not reach a statistically significant difference.
Dental caries prevalence in children with congenital heart disease – a systematic review
Published in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2021
Essi Karikoski, Taisto Sarkola, My Blomqvist
Oral health is a key indicator of overall health, well-being and quality of life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), oral health is a state of being free from mouth and facial pain, and oral diseases and disorders that limit an individual’s capacity in biting, chewing, smiling, speaking and psychosocial well-being. Tooth decay, i.e. dental caries, is the most prevalent infectious disease in man and affects nearly 500 million children around the world [5]. Dental caries is a multifactorial oral disease that is unevenly distributed. Although the prevalence of caries has decreased among children overall, there are important predisposing factors in the general population. Socioeconomic status (SES; e.g. mother’s and father’s years of education and nationality), smoking and inferior parental oral health are considered as major predisposing factors for caries development in children [6].