Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health
Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health

Tooth decay

What is tooth decay?

Symptoms of tooth decay

Causes of tooth decay

Dental treatments for tooth decay

Tooth extraction / removal

Mercury (silver) amalgam fillings

Prevention / remedies / treatment for tooth decay

References

What is tooth decay?

Dental caries (tooth decay, cavities, rotting teeth) is a bacterial infection that causes destruction of the teeth. The bacteria consume sugar and food debris on the teeth, gums and sulcus (the space between a tooth and its surrounding gum), producing acids, enzymes and toxic by-products. These acids corrode and destroy the teeth.

cross section of a tooth showing enamel, dentine, pulp, gum, cementum

If left untreated, the disease can lead to pain, tooth loss and infection in other parts of the body.

Most children and 90% of adults around the world experience dental caries. It is the most common chronic childhood disease. About 20% of children are particularly badly affected, presenting with three quarters of all cases. Approximately 30-50% of adults over the age of 50 have dental caries. Its prevalence is higher among the economically disadvantaged and those who have a high-carbohydrate diet and a "sweet tooth".

Tooth enamel is the outer white hard surface of the tooth. This is the part that you can see. Dentin is a hard, yellow-coloured layer under the enamel. The enamel and dentin provide the structure of the tooth and enclose and protect the pulp. Pulp is the soft inner living tissue in the tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves.

Demineralisation is the loss of minerals from teeth, leading to their decay and breakdown. Remineralisation is the rebuilding of the teeth from calcium, magnesium and other minerals in the saliva. Demineralisation occurs strongly when the pH on the teeth falls below 5.5 - a highly acid environment. (1) In this case, demineralisation exceeds remineralisation, and the hard tooth progressively breaks down, producing dental caries (cavities, holes in the teeth).

It can take a couple of years before a cavity appears in the tooth enamel. Once the cavity gets through to the cementum, decay progresses much more rapidly because the cementum is not as hard or durable, and it can quickly reach the tooth's root. Decay of the root is serious, painful, and may result in the loss of the tooth.

Tooth decay can also take hold when the roots of teeth are exposed from gingival recession or periodontal disease.

The bacteria most responsible for dental cavities are Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. Bacteria collect around the teeth and gums in a sticky, creamy-coloured biofilm called plaque. Plaque forms most readily in grooves and recesses on the teeth, and in the sulcus (the gap between the gums and the teeth).

Tooth with decay / caries. The bone holding this tooth also had decay

Symptoms of tooth decay

Causes of tooth decay

Dental treatments for tooth decay

Treatment of a small and shallow cavity usually requires a dental filling. A large cavity with extensive damage to the dentin may need an onlay or crown. If the cavity has penetrated and injured the pulp the standard dental procedure is a root canal or the extraction of the affected tooth.

A dentist uses a drill to remove large portions of decayed material from a tooth. Once the tooth is cleaned up, the missing tooth structure is replaced with a dental restoration (filling), so the tooth looks, feels and functions the same as it did when healthy.

Restorative materials include dental amalgam, composite resin, porcelain, and gold. Dental amalgam fillings are NOT recommended - these mercury fillings are toxic and can cause many health problems later. Fillings today are normally done with a composite material. Composite resin and porcelain can be made to match the colour of your teeth, so it is not apparent that dental work has been done.

When the decay is too extensive, there may not be enough of the tooth left to allow a filling. In this case a crown may be needed. The tooth is drilled away until just a stump remains, and a custom made crown is glued onto the stump. Crowns are usually made of porcelain, porcelain fused to metal, or gold alloy.

A root canal may be recommended when the pulp in a tooth dies from infection or trauma. The pulp (including the nerve and vascular tissues) is removed along with all the decayed material. The tooth is filled with a inert rubbery material that is designed not to host bacteria, and capped with a filling or crown. Upon completion of the root canal the tooth is non-vital, in other words dead or devoid of any living tissue. It becomes more brittle over time, and is prone to fracture. Root-canalled teeth often eventually require a crown for strength and protection.

Tooth extraction / removal

Tooth extraction or removal is recommended when a tooth is so decayed that it cannot be restored. Decay extends through the root of the tooth, and there is insufficient solid and healthy tooth left to provide a stump on which to glue a crown.

It is often preferable to have a tooth PROPERLY removed rather than suffer a root canal, bridge or insert. Proper extraction of a tooth does not leave a cavitation (alveolar cavitational osteopathosis). In other words, the hole left from the extracted tooth must be cleaned out properly, otherwise it may not heal properly and fill with bone. Cavitations can remain as an ongoing source of infection.

The removal of a tooth this is a difficult and personal decision, because nobody wants a gap in their mouth when they smile. Another reason to keep a tooth if possible is that the removal of teeth in the arch can result in the re-distribution of occlusal (chewing) forces, which can can change the bite alignment and cause new stresses in the jaw. The opposing tooth will no longer have opposing pressure when chewing on it, and can deteriorate. In a few cases, symptoms can even include headache or earache.

A properly performed extraction removes the risk of having a non-vital (dead) body part that can harbour bacteria for many years or the rest of your life. Infection from root canalled teeth, infected gums, and decayed teeth and bone are strongly correlated with many diseases.

Tooth extraction may also be an option for patients unable or unwilling to undergo the expense or difficulties in restoring the tooth.

Mercury (silver) amalgam fillings

Amalgam fillings (the silver gray or black fillings that millions of people have in their mouths) are highly toxic, and in my opinion should immediately be banned. Mercury fillings are responsible for many serious and apparently chronic diseases.

Some people are more susceptible than others to the effects of mercury poisoning, and experience improvements in their health after the removal of their mercury amalgam fillings. For others like myself, there was little effect.

The amount of mercury that goes into the average mercury amalgam tooth filling is sufficient to kill you if it was taken all at once. Approximately 50% of an amalgam filling is mercury. 25-30% is silver, and the remainder is usually zinc and tin. An amalgam filling will leak mercury vapour over many years. The specific sicknesses mercury causes are extremely variable with each individual person. Research over decades has proven mercury can be the cause of degenerative diseases such as inflammation, heart disease, arthritis, bone spurs, birth defects, mental depression, headaches, migraines, insomnia, irritability, hallucinations, memory loss, Alzheimer's disease, tremors (shakes), kidney diseases (nephritis), skin diseases such as dermatitis and eczema, loosening of the teeth, pain and numbness in the extremities (multiple sclerosis symptoms) and many others.

White composite fillings are only slightly more expensive than mercury amalgam fillings, but require more skill. If your dentist argues that white composite fillings are too weak and short-lived to use, find another dentist. Composite fillings performed by a skilled dentist will last as long as any others. I personally feel that a dentist who is not capable of doing composite fillings should not be allowed to practice.

If you and your dentist decide to go ahead with a mercury amalgam filling, I suggest you ask your dentist for a written and signed conformation that mercury amalgam fillings are safe and will not harm you.

Prevention / remedies / treatment for tooth decay

References

1. Cury JA, Tenuta LM. How to maintain a cariostatic fluoride concentration in the oral environment. 2008, Adv Dent Res 20 (1): 13-6. doi:10.1177/154407370802000104. PMID 18694871.

2. May Mellanby, C. Lee Pattison. Remarks on the influence of a cereal-free diet rich in vitamin d and calcium on dental caries in children. Br Med J. 1932 Mar 19; 1(3715): 507-510. PMCID: PMC2520490.