“Why does my son keep getting cavities?”

The most common answer is too much sugar in his diet. Brushing needs to be done properly along with fluoride and flossing. Sometimes certain medications can cause dry mouth and people will use a cough drop or piece of gum to moisten the mouth. Watch that these are sugar free. Also realize many foods like ketchup, peanut butter etc have added sugars. Dried fruit and juice can be sources of sugar.

Tooth decay is a multifactorial disease and is influenced by Diet, Hygiene and individual resistance.

There are three things that are needed to have a cavity. Obviously the first thing is a tooth. The second thing is sugar. The third thing is bacteria. Bacteria feed on sugar, form an acid, and dissolve the tooth to form a cavity. Two of the three you can control to some degree. Limit sugars in his diet as much as possible. You can alter decay causing bacteria to some extent by using a fluoride rinse once daily. Fluoride kills off some of the bacteria that cause decay. If he is getting cavities between his teeth, daily flossing is the only thing that will help that decay pattern. I hope your dentist is not over treating. If you are concerned, you might want to get a second opinion.

When somebody constantly gets cavity it means the number of bacterial colony in the mouth is very high. In order to prevent future cavities you should do followings:
- Take care of active cavities
- Brush 3 times a day
- Make sure to use Fluoridated tooth paste
- Use Fluoride mouthwash or prescribed Fluoride tooth paste
- Limit the amount of sugar in the diet
- Floss every night

The most probable cause is having multiple sugar attacks against his enamel throughout the day. Does he snack all day long? Does he chew sugared gum? Does he suck on candy or mints during the day? These are all things that could cause cavities in your pre-teen son. See your dental professional in order to delve further into the issue. With good oral hygiene and good eating habits, he should not be getting a mouthful of cavities at his hygiene recall appointments.

The obvious first thing is to check his intake of sugar and make sure that this is limited. But I find many patients brush well eat properly and still get cavities I recommend a nutritional approach taking 2000 IU of vitamin D three, 1 mg of K2 and 300 mg of magnesium I recommend remag from Dr. Carolyn Dean a liquid magnesium

Best Regards,
Dr. Mark Berkowitz

Frankly, the root of the problem is home care. Your son may be brushing his teeth but there are a couple of things that need to be done.

First, he is a high cavity risk so this needs to be managed. Cavity risk management has been around since the 1990's. The proven data support the use of topical fluoride therapy. Fluoride toothpastes, fluoride mouth rinses (Act, fluoride mouth rinse, fluouoiguard, mouth rinse or store brand generics. These will cut the risks of developing cavities. After brushing AND rinsing have your son chew a stick if sugar free chewing gum for thrity minutes. The gum chewing will increase the saliva flow. The minerals in the saliva will bond with the fluoride and re-mineralize very early cavities.

See your dentist and dissuss the application of sealants to the teeth. The cavities that are there need to be filled. The risk management will prevent the formation of new lesions.
It sound to me that your son will benefit from a cavity risk management program.

He needs to floss also and use a fluoride rinse and watch his diet.

Thanks,

Dr. Price

This is a question that has so many possibilities for an answer. Some of the factors that can determine a child's abilities for getting cavities are 1) diet 2) saliva 3) amount of bacteria
An example, using what you had expressed could be; a 12 year old brushing 2 times a day for 20 seconds each time, not flossing at all. During the day drinking coffee with sugar and milk. Along with sports drinks during the day. Three meals with many simple carbohydrates and snacking during the day.

Now I have exaggerated a particular situation, but take pieces of it and you can still have a 12 year old that brushes twice a day that is getting multiple cavities.

Sorry i have not made it a simple answer to your son's cavity issue. But I hope maybe it will give you some places to look as to where the potential areas of increased cavity potential may be.

Good question with no simple answer. You need 3 things in order to "get" a cavity (cavities develop over time; you don't just get them):

1) A tooth (teeth) - if they are strong and not inherently weak (genetics), then it's a good thing (eating, smiling, etc.)

2) Plaque on the teeth - this is the home for bacteria that produce the acid that eat away and undermine the enamel to cause cavities. If there is no plaque, then there's no cavities, but sometimes improper brushing (not long or efficient enough) and not getting between the teeth (see flossing) allows plaque to build up.

3) Sugar substrate - this is what the bacteria use to make the acid. No sugar (right), then no acid and no cavity. Sugar comes in many forms and not just candy (all drinks with calories, fruits like raisins have more than grapes, etc., and even carbs like cereal and bread, if left on the teeth for more than 20 minutes, start breaking down to sugar)

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your son's cavities. As a parent, it can be very frustrating trying to figure this type of stuff out. Putting things in perspective can surely help us understand better and put things in perspective. It takes 3 things to for cavities: a host (in this case, your son's teeth), bacteria, and a food source for those bacteria. Without all three, you will generally will not get cavities. Obviously, your son has teeth; otherwise you would not be upset about the cavities. We know that from the time we are born we begin to get bacteria on our skin which helps protect us. What most people do not realize is that our teeth do not start erupting until later. As these teeth erupt, a variety of different types of bacteria start to grow on our teeth. This is a direct physical transfer from parents/care givers to the children (touching our own teeth and then theirs or visa versa or simple kisses). Some of the bacteria are particularly good at causing cavities. Finally, the bacteria need a food source and like most of it uses glucose (simple sugars) to grow and as it goes, it produces lactic acid. It is the lactic acid that causes the cavities. Now that we know all the things needed for a cavity we know that brushing and flossing will only disturb the process for a short time. However, we can try to disturb the process in other ways. Perhaps we can manipulate the diet to prevent cavities. Using less sugary food and drinks (less fruits with citric acid) could be more beneficial than brushing twice a day.
Hope this helps.

My best to you!

William F. Scott IV, DMD

There are three potential causes for cavities. The first is oral hygiene. If he is brushing well I would also make sure that he is flossing daily and perhaps rinsing with a fluoride mouth rinse. I would also consider using an electric toothbrush such as a Sonicare or Oral-B. The second component is diet. More than just candy, I would be sure that he is avoiding soda, juice, chocolate milk and also keep in mind that a lot of processed food has a lot of added sugar. The third factor is genetics. Some people are born with softer teeth, tight teeth, etc., that can predispose to cavities. This is the hardest area to make improvements. The other major concept would be to focus on prevention. This would include placing sealants on the 12-year molars, delaying orthodontic treatment, focusing on daily fluoride exposure, etc.

Marc D. Thomas, DDS