Do you feel like your sweet tooth is gone? Do you cringe at the sight of the candy and sweets you used to enjoy as a child and now give to your grandchildren? Has your appetite for dessert disappeared like your appetite for almost everything else? In your senior years, you may be experiencing a transition in taste, which keeps you from eating as many sugary foods. So, why then, are you still experiencing cavities as if you still ate those sweets you had as a child? Our Fresno dentists, Dr. Alex Denes and Dr. Claudia Denes explain how tooth decay does not care about your age, and how you can fight back against cavities in your senior years.
How Tooth Decay Forms
Many seniors experience resurgence in cavities that they have not had since they were very young. Perhaps when you were a child, tooth decay formation would have occurred like this: Your mother made a batch of sugar cookies, she lets you have one or two throughout the day, denying you the chance to eat them all at once and spoil your appetite for dinner. Each time you eat the sugar cookie, you introduce sugar into your mouth. Bacteria metabolizes this sugar and creates acid. Your tooth enamel softens and slowly erodes as the acid wears away at your tooth. This reoccurs over the hours. Eventually, bacteria and plaque attack the vulnerable tooth, creating a cavity.
Why Seniors Are More Susceptible to Cavities
While the process of tooth decay certainly has not changed, perhaps the cause of your susceptibility has. As a senior, you may have traded sugar cookies for arthritis medication, heartburn, or antibiotics. Each of these contributes to tooth decay in different ways from dry mouth, to acid reflux erosion. If this sounds like something you are experiencing, stay tuned next week to learn how these aspects of senior life contribute to your new vulnerability to cavities.
Senior Dental Care in Fresno
Learn more about how our Fresno dentists can offer healthy teeth for life for our senior and geriatric patients. To reserve an appointment with Dr. Denes, call Fresno Dental Studio in Fresno, California at (559) 297-1800. We serve patients from Fresno, Clovis, Mendota, Orange Cove, Reedley, Selma, and the surrounding areas.