Question

How early, and to what extent, did you experience tooth decay in childhood? What factors might have been responsible?

Answer 1

Tooth decay is damage to the enamel of your teeth. It leads to cavities that can affect the deeper layers of the tooth. it occurs when germs (bacteria) in your mouth make acids that eat away the tooth.It can lead to a hole in the tooth, called a cavity. If not treated, tooth decay can cause pain, infection, and tooth loss.

In childhood the tooth decay may causes from over eating of chocolates, soft drinks, or not properly brushing the teeth,etc thus it purely depends on the individual

Things that make you more likely to have tooth decay include:

• Not brushing and flossing your teeth regularly and not seeing a dentist for checkups and cleanings.
• Eating foods that are high in sugar and other carbohydrates, which feed the bacteria in your mouth.
• Not getting enough fluoride. Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay by making teeth more resistant to acids produced by plaque. Fluoride is added to many public water supplies.
• Not having enough saliva. Saliva washes away food and harmful sugars, so it helps protect your teeth from decay. A dry mouth may be caused by a condition such as xerostomia or Sjögren's syndrome, by taking certain medicines, or by breathing through your mouth. Older adults are more likely to have a dry mouth.
• Having diabetes.
• Smoking, using spit (smokeless) tobacco, or breathing secondhand smoke.

Children, whose teeth are still growing, are more likely than adults to have tooth decay. This is because the minerals in new teeth are not very strong and are easier for acids to eat away.

Even babies can be at risk for tooth decay. Babies who are put to bed with a bottle can get "bottle mouth tooth decay caused by the sugar in milk, formula, or juice. Babies aren't born with decay-causing bacteria in their mouths. But they can get bacteria from adults who share spoons, forks, or other utensils with them.