healed cavity
Can Cavities Be Healed?
In July of 2019 I took our 7, 5, and 3 year olds for their six month dental checkup. I felt sucker punched in the gut after the x-ray showed my oldest had two cavities and the dentist wanted to fill them. Maybe I’m a little extreme here, but seriously, I take pride in how throughly I floss and brush my children’s teeth! I had numerous cavities and fillings as a child and made it my personal mission to prevent that trauma for my kids. I sat in shock and disbelief as the dentist rambled on. When the assistant came to check us out I probably looked like I was about to cry so she whispered to me… “you can still heal these.” I was like, “say what?!” She said, “yeah, look up the dental diet and use xylitol.” Just like that, I had my new mission.
Mouth Bacteria
The health of the saliva glands plays a huge role in how healthy the saliva is and how protected the teeth are by the bath of saliva. If the glads are not healthy or have a genetic predisposition for producing more acidic saliva then the teeth will not be well protected. The saliva can be too acidic or too low of volume to coat the teeth. You can check your mouth PH level and get an idea what may be going on. There are vitamins, minerals and probiotics necessary to the health of the saliva glands. Fat soluble vitamins, minerals and good bacteria can all be supplemented to help improve the glands and the ability for your body to heal and repair damage done by bacteria and acid to the teeth.
Natural Remedies For Tooth Decay
Are Fermented Foods Bad For Teeth?
Kombucha
In conclusion:
Needless to say I am a believer in the ability to heal and prevent cavities!
What we used and continue to use:
HI Arianna,
I’m happy that you “healed” caries aka the tooth decay. I would love to see the Xrays though to see how “big” was your caries. In my experience there is a point of no return in tooth decay. So if your caries was incipient, then yes, you can “heal” it. Basically remineralize it. That spot will become even stronger than it was before!
But if caries crosses into dentin, I don’t believe you can reverse caries progression. Dentin is much softer than enamel and caries spreads much quicker once it’s crosses the line from enamel into dentin.
Well done on your “tooth healing” journey!
Anya – RDH
P.S. Very first 20 minutes after our meals are very important. That’s when the damage to teeth happen. That’s why we tell our patients – brush after your meal! Of course, it’s better just to rinse after acidic food/drink to neutralize pH.