Why Am I Getting Cavities?

Are Cavities Caused by Bad Luck or Bad Dental Hygiene?

Tooth decay has remained one of the most common chronic diseases that is shared by both children and adults, even though the rate of decay has decreased over the past 40 years for most people. While most forms of tooth decay are preventable through proper oral hygiene, some experts believe that the health of any given person’s teeth is dependent on a combination of hygiene habits and genetic makeup. So when a cavity strikes, what’s to blame – bad genes or bad hygiene?

Cavities and Your Genes

Just like being left handed or being born with blue eyes, cavities can in many ways be a genetic gamble. According to scientists, genetics can make individuals more susceptible to forming cavities but cannot actually cause the cavities themselves. Experts have narrowed it down to these cavity-causing areas:

• Immune System : the human body contains hundreds of thousands of microorganisms that help to dictate the body’s immune response. If individuals’ immune response is relatively high and their body is great at fighting off diseases, they will also be more resistant to gum disease.
• Enamel : Genes are primarily responsible for producing the tooth’s enamel structure, and the stronger the enamel surface, the less likely someone is to develop tooth decay.
• Saliva : Saliva can be used to find polymorphisms or gene variants that can take a number of different forms. Specific genetic makeup in saliva can often help or hurt the amount of bacteria that causes cavities in the human mouth.

Cavities and Your Oral Hygiene

Most of the time, cavities are 100 percent preventable, and hitting all the right genetics for healthy teeth only gets someone so far. Neglecting to properly care for teeth inevitably causes cavities, regardless of how good someone’s genes are. While we know that eating and drinking sugary foods as well as smoking are big no-nos when it comes to oral health, what about those lesser known problems?

• Snacking : After consuming sugar, it takes about 20 seconds for that sugar to be turned into the acid that causes tooth decay. Constantly snacking or drinking (other than water) is constantly reintroducing those sugars onto the teeth, increasing the likelihood of developing cavities.
• Snoring : Believe it not, snoring can actually irritate the teeth, and breathing through the mouth has been known to increase the likelihood of dry mouth, which l is the perfect place for germs and cavities to run wild.

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