At our All About Smiles holistic dental office in Wilmington, DE, we get asked quite often by our ever-growing family of patients if there’s anything they can be doing at home to prevent cavities and tooth decay in a natural way. Well, your holistic dentist in Wilmington is here to set the record straight.
You’ll know a cavity when you see and feel it. They’re tiny holes that form in teeth usually caused by prolonged decay and bad bacteria. Sometimes when we forget to brush and floss a buildup of food waste and bacteria can live within your mouth and create a sticky film on your teeth that eventually turns to plaque. If the plaque is left to stay and grow, it could cause cavities. Decay is most likely to occur:
– Between spaces in your teeth
– In deep cracks or where there’s breakage
– Near your gums
As tartar and plaque continue to build up in your mouth, they can make their way into your dentin or the inner layer or inside of your tooth. This is where cavities begin and if you have a tooth that reaches this point, it’s important you give our holistic dental office in Wilmington a call right away.
So my dental team and I tell our patients all the time that it’s OK to use some home remedies to help prevent cavities, but there’s not a lot you can do once they’re already in your teeth. You’ll need some professional help to fix them, so they don’t cause more damage in the future requiring more extensive restorative work. When you’re helping to boost your oral health care and ward off cavities at home, you’ll want to do things that can strengthen your enamel and help stop cavities from forming. The only thing you can do once a cavity has formed is to call us for help!
Let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take to help your smile stay healthy at home along with regular brushing and flossing:
This in-depth study dating back to 2013 found that vitamin D was actually a “promising preventative agent” to help protect your teeth against cavities and eventual decay. Some doctors and scientists believe that vitamin D can help to remineralize teeth, similar to fluoride, to improve your tooth enamel remain strong and impenetrable.
Sometime you may think your holistic dentist in Wilmington sounds like a broken record when we tell you to avoid sugary foods and beverages. But we wouldn’t be saying the same thing over and over if it wasn’t true and important for your oral health. Cavities and sugar go hand and hand because sugar mixes with the bad bacteria to cause a harmful acid that eats away at healthy tooth enamel over time.
There’s still a debate about whether both of these at-home remedies actually make a difference when it comes to better oral health. They’re both said to be antibacterial in nature, so they can help keep your teeth healthy and aid in cavity prevention.
Ready to learn more about holistic dentistry in Wilmington, DE? Do you have questions about natural, safe ways you can care for your teeth at home? Please don’t hesitate to call All About Smiles. We love answering questions, getting to know new patients, and speaking with members of our current dental family.
It all adds up to better health, smile, body, and spirit!