Regular teeth care is the greatest tool for prevention.

Learn How To Care For Your Teeth

Preventing Cavities
Many mothers are surprised to hear that their young children have cavities and say, “what is wrong, I brush the child’s teeth three times a day, I cannot believe this is happening.” Find out here what causes cavities and what are the most effective ways to prevent them.

Cavities form in weak teeth. Teeth are a record of our health as we grow up. Premature birth, high fevers and other illnesses interrupt the formation of teeth. Some people get weak teeth genetically. Most children—about 3 out of 4— now in the United States never get cavities because they have strong teeth.

How can parents tell if their children have weak, cavity prone teeth? If your child has had 2 cavities or more in his life time then the child is at high risk for future cavities. Past cavities are the best predictor for future cavities. Another way to tell is to look for a smooth, uniform glassy appearance to the teeth. Uneven, opaque and discolored areas are much more prone to cavities.

What to do if your child has weak teeth. Acknowledge that you have a problem and do everything you can to prevent cavities. Below is an outline of the most effective tools available rated by relative effectiveness.

• No sweets—no cavities. This is your most effective tool. Never buy anything sweet at the grocery store. Sweets fall into two categories, liquid sweets and sticky sweets.
  • Have your child drink fluoridated water all day and do not substitute juice, carbonated beverages, chocolate or other sugar-added milk, Kool-aid, sports drinks or sweet tea. Milk is for meal times, but never for night time while sleeping. Drinking water with fluoride can prevent 50% of cavities. The fluoride hardens the teeth.
  • Eliminate birthday cake, cookies, donuts, candies, jelly, syrup, dried fruit and other sticky sweets. Do this and never get another cavity. Feed your child meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit at meal time, milk, cheese and whole wheat bread. This will not only prevent cavities but make your child healthier in general. Many children are now overweight from eating sweets and are very prone to the devastating disease, diabetes.
• Be sure to drink water with fluoride. We can check this out for you at a regular examination. This is your second most effective tool. It prevents about half of cavities.
• Take advantage of our professional prevention program. We will evaluate the oral bacteria levels and work to reduce them. We will apply fluoride and sealants. We will give you and your child training in oral care. We will find and fix small cavities and fix them before they get big and are more costly to fix. We will keep your child’s teeth clean and healthy. We will provide you with prescriptions for fluoride supplements and oral rinses and special toothpastes targeted to prevent cavities for your child. We claim to be able prevent at least one third of cavities.
• Brush the teeth at bedtime with a fluoride toothpaste and prevent about one fifth of cavities. This is your least effective tool but well worth doing.