Full Transcript Why Cavities Keep Coming Back 0:00 Have you ever felt like you keep getting cavities no matter how much you brush your floss? 0:06 Well, you're not alone in this frustration. 0:10 And the reason why may actually be surprising. 0:13 Rampant tooth decay or getting more than one cavity at once is really a whole body problem, and some of the answers may be much deeper than you ever thought. 0:25 Have you ever had more than one cavity when you go to the dentist? 0:29 Tell us in the comments about it. 0:31 What answers did they have for you? 0:33 Most likely, not a lot, because brushing and flossing is all we've been told contributes to cavities. 0:41 Let's talk about this. 0:43 So rampant tooth decay, that's when you get more than one cavity at a time. 0:49 Tooth decay happens when the pH in your mouth or the acid level in your mouth drops below level 5.5. Neutral is seven. 1:00 Anything lower than that is more acidic. 1:03 So this is an acidic pH. 1:05 Well, how does the mouth get that way? 1:07 One way is through the foods and the drinks that we drink. 1:10 So if you're drinking a lot of very acidic sodas or energy drinks, your mouth is going to be naturally more acidic.
How Acid and Strep Mutans Cause Decay 1:19 but a lot of the time this is due to bacteria in the mouth. 1:23 So one of the most cavity causing bacteria is called strep mutans. 1:28 Now strep mutans, it is really great at causing cavities for a few different reasons. 1:34 First of all, it loves sugar so what it does is it can consume all different kinds of sugar glucose sucrose fructose all the different kinds of sugars 1:44 it loves them and it metabolizes it very quickly once it eats sugar this bacteria excretes acid So, it eats the sugar, it excretes acid, 1:56 now your mouth is more acidic. 1:58 But here's some of its other superpowers. 2:01 It creates a very sticky plaque on the teeth, especially after it's eaten sugar. 2:07 It creates this real sticky, almost gelatin material that stays in place on the tooth. 2:13 That's one reason it's great. 2:15 Another reason it's great at causing cavities is because it can survive in really acidic situations. 2:21 So it's creating all this acid and it can keep doing it. 2:26 Whereas sometimes that acid will kill off other bacteria. 2:30 It's also really competitive. 2:31 So it pushes other bacteria out. 2:34 In fact, some of the bacteria that help to neutralize the pH Strep mutans can battle it out with them. 2:41 The last thing it does is it actually can survive really well deeper into the layers of the tooth, which is why often rapidly progressing cavities have 2:50 a large amount of strep mutans, because it can actually crawl into what are called the dentinal tubules and can survive there, 2:58 still eat the sugar, still create acid. 3:01 So what happens with this acid? 3:03 What it does is once it drops below 5.5, it starts to dissolve hydroxyapatite. 3:10 What is hydroxyapatite? 3:11 That's simply the mineral complex that your teeth are made of. 3:14 So when you smile, You're looking at hydroxyapatite. 3:18 It starts to break it down. 3:19 Magnesium and calcium ions start coming out of these complexes and they start to be dissolved in the saliva down the hatch they go. 3:28 So now you have very porous teeth and then the bacteria crawl in. 3:33 They keep the process going.
Microbiome, Diet, and Saliva Factors 3:36 So the solution is not just brushing more. 3:39 Now, sure, that's going to help some, right? 3:41 It's going to help get off that sticky plaque. 3:45 But this acid is really the bigger issue. 3:48 And that acid could be contributed by so many different things in the body. 3:52 So let's go through this a little bit. 3:55 Research shows that there are multiple things that contribute to your teeth actually staying strong, resisting the acid attack, 4:04 or dissolving and leading to tooth decay. 4:06 The first one is the microbiome. 4:08 That's what we've been discussing. 4:09 So which bugs are actually living in your mouth? 4:12 And what can you do about it? 4:14 Obviously, brushing is very important, but also the products you use is very important. 4:20 So one of the things you might want to look for is a prebiotic that actually feeds the good bacteria, the ones that are going to manage the acid levels 4:29 and starves off the strep mutans. 4:32 There are prebiotics. 4:33 We have a couple of products. 4:34 Actually, I developed a couple of products that have a prebiotic that do exactly this. 4:39 Now you see why that's so important. 4:42 You also don't want to use products that have high alcohol content, triclosan, things like that that are going to kill off every bacteria. 4:51 Why? 4:52 Because if everything's dead, what's going to come back first and start to thrive? 4:57 Strep mutans. 4:58 So the more you're using some of those alcohol containing or disinfectant containing products, the more you're going to allow strep mutans to flourish. 5:07 It's really an interesting balance that you have to keep in mind. 5:10 Some of the sweeteners in foods but also dental products also can contribute. 5:15 This is why we use xylitol. 5:17 Xylitol, strep mutans can't eat it, so they start to starve. 5:21 Whereas others can, they can do better in the environment with xylitol. 5:25 So other reasons to think about which bugs are growing there. 5:29 Your diet is so important. 5:30 We also talked about things like sodas and energy drinks and even things like Gatorade are very, very acidic. 5:37 Remember, if your mouth stays acidic, that hydroxyapatite starts to dissolve. 5:43 Now your body has an inborn mechanism to help balance this out and it's called your saliva. 5:50 If your saliva has minerals in it to deliver, it can also dilute out the acid in the mouth. 5:57 So it's really important that you have good saliva flow. 6:01 There's things, unfortunately, that really do affect the saliva flow, medications, different, just even stressors in your life can affect this. 6:09 But also it's important that there's minerals in the body for the saliva to deliver to the tooth. 6:14 So that's why gut health and nutrients are so important, because how do we get those minerals into the saliva? 6:23 Well, it has to come through us, through the food that we eat, into the gut. 6:28 The gut has to actually be working in a way that those nutrients can be absorbed from the gut, put into the bloodstream, 6:37 to then make it back to the tooth, to the saliva. 6:40 So gut health is incredibly important for keeping the teeth healthy. 6:46 If you don't have good tooth health, This is a warning sign that you probably don't have good gut health also. 6:53 The last thing is systemic health. 6:55 This systemic health piece is going to affect you both directions. 6:59 So the first is that if you are really struggling with things like diabetes, that's going to affect your saliva flow.
Pregnancy Story and Remineralization Plan 7:05 If you are struggling with things like gut health, it's going to affect whether you get enough nutrients in. 7:10 Can you see the connections between mouth health and systemic health. 7:14 It also goes the other way. 7:16 So, oftentimes if your mouth isn't healthy, it can lead to gut health issues. 7:22 If you have an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the mouth, it can contribute to an overgrowth of those same things in the gut. 7:29 That then is going to get into the bloodstream, which is then going to get to the organs. 7:33 This is the organs, the joints, this is where chronic inflammation comes from and how it's related to the mouth. 7:39 So can you see how there's so many different things that go into taking care of your teeth that actually have nothing to do with brushing? 7:48 Now it can get a little overwhelming. 7:49 So we're going to go through step-by-step how to tackle this, but let me share a little story with you first. 7:54 So Sarah was one of my very first babysitters that we had that took care of my kids. 7:59 She was so much fun my kids absolutely loved her but she was really embarrassed when she found out i was a dentist because she said i have the worst teeth 8:08 like literally the worst teeth she had actually been really interested in having a baby of her own she was newly married and wanted to have a baby but 8:17 she said i've heard that when women are pregnant, it really takes a toll on their teeth. 8:21 And she said, my teeth are already so bad. 8:23 I don't know how this is gonna work for me. 8:25 That's a systemic thing we didn't even talk about. 8:27 Oftentimes, if the body isn't getting enough nutrients through the gut, there's not enough nutrients for the baby to grow and for the teeth to stay healthy. 8:36 So oftentimes we'll see worsening tooth decay in pregnant or nursing women. 8:42 simply because there's not enough to go around. 8:45 So we knew for Sarah that we needed to fix these issues before she thought about getting pregnant. 8:51 So we started working on things, started working on her gut health, started working on her diet. 8:55 She already knew a lot about that, but started changing just a few little things like lemon water. 9:00 She heard lemon water was great. 9:01 She was drinking it all day long. 9:03 It's very acidic, literally down into the 2.0 pH. 9:07 Remember 5.5 and lower is where tooth decay happens. 9:10 Lemon water is way over here. 9:12 So you cannot be bathing your teeth in those kinds of acidic things and not expect that you're going to get tooth decay. 9:17 You are. 9:18 But there were other things she was working so hard to keep her teeth clean. 9:21 So we knew this was gut related and nutrient based. 9:25 So I started teaching her how to put minerals back into her teeth and how to neutralize those acids. 9:32 A couple of things we started adding was hydroxyapatite. 9:35 Remember, we use those words. 9:37 That is the mineral that's dissolving at 5.5 and under. 9:41 you can put it back. 9:42 When it dissolves, we need to add those minerals right back into the tooth. 9:46 So I like to do minerals on the outside, which is a hydroxyapatite containing product, either a tooth powder, a toothpaste, 9:53 a mouthwash, a mint. 9:54 I have all of these things that can add it on the outside and then on the inside. 9:59 Remember, it has to go through the gut as well. 10:02 To be able to really metabolize things well or these minerals well, you have to have vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. 10:09 So we started her supplementing vitamin D3, vitamin K2, along with my tooth bone formula, which has calcium, magnesium, all of these things that teeth 10:20 need to be healthy. 10:21 Now here's one of the cool things. 10:23 If she started supplementing early before pregnancy, she was going to have enough in her system to take care of the baby, 10:30 ensure that the baby's development is good, as well as herself. 10:34 And it can make a difference. 10:37 And this is what we found in her. 10:39 So I saw her for an exam. 10:41 She had three or four cavities, devastated again. 10:43 She said, literally, I've never been to the dentist without a cavity. 10:46 I said, next time, next time it's gonna happen. 10:49 I can feel this for you. 10:50 So she said, I don't believe it. 10:52 I don't think it's possible. 10:53 She went home, she started trying everything we taught. 10:56 She was supplementing with vitamin D3K2. 10:58 She was doing the tooth bone formula. 11:00 She started using hydroxyapatite products on the outside. 11:03 She started being really conscious about her acid intake and when she was brushing all of these things. 11:10 She came back in six months and she was just kind of, you know, holding her breath the whole time we did the exam. 11:15 And I sat her up and I said, no new cavities. 11:17 And I wasn't even making it up, you know, just for her sake. 11:20 I said, no, really, really there are no new cavities. 11:22 And she started to cry.
Preventing Cavities with pH, Minerals, and Checkups 11:24 She said, this is the first exam I've ever had where I've heard those words before. 11:28 And she's continued even through, I think she's had three babies by now, even through pregnancies, she's been able to maintain because she finally understood 11:36 the keys. 11:36 And what are they? 11:37 Let's go back through them. 11:38 Diet is so incredibly important. 11:41 diet thinking about two things we want mineral rich foods but we also want to limit the acidic foods and this is something that's really important when 11:50 you drink something acidic or even let's say you throw up and it's very very acidic sometimes pregnant ladies have this happening the worst time to brush 11:57 is after that acidic food so if you drink lemon water in the morning the worst time to brush is right after why because that acid has started to dissolve 12:05 the minerals in the hydroxyapatite remember this now your toothbrush comes across and brushes them away It's actually not a great idea to brush right after 12:13 a meal. 12:14 Why? 12:15 Because when you've eaten, it has lowered the pH in the mouth, dropped it down to this level because those bacteria are consuming the food in the mouth, 12:23 saliva levels are decreasing. 12:25 You need to give your mouth about 30 minutes to neutralize again, to balance again, let the saliva levels come up again, 12:31 remineralize before you're brushing. 12:33 So she started incorporating some of these things. 12:36 But diet is really important. 12:38 You've got to get the minerals in. 12:40 if your body expects to remineralize and put them back in. 12:44 Nutrients. 12:45 You actually have to have the correct nutrients. 12:47 Again, it's the vitamin D3K2 and those minerals. 12:51 There's no way we can rebuild a tooth unless we have the things that a tooth is made of. 12:56 It's just common sense when you start to think about it. 12:58 The third is pH and saliva. 13:00 We've talked a lot about that. 13:02 How do we make sure that we're managing that? 13:04 Well, the first is let's not eat a lot of sucrose, glucose, and fructose. 13:08 Those are all the sugars that strep mutans loves. 13:12 That's a huge one and we all know it, right? 13:14 Our moms told us this, but it's also important to think about what's in your tooth care products. 13:19 What's in the mints maybe that you're popping in your mouth for fresh breath, all those kinds of things. 13:24 Xylitol is actually the preferred one in that because it's going to starve out the strep mutans. 13:29 They're not going to be able to flourish if they don't have their preferred food. 13:33 pH, make sure you're watching things like acidic drinks. 13:37 How often are you drinking them? 13:39 I tell people, you know what? 13:40 Drink it first thing in the morning and be done with it. 13:42 If you're doing lemon water, don't keep sipping on it throughout the day. 13:45 Every time you sip, you drop the pH again and you get down into this danger zone every single time. 13:51 You've got to make sure there's enough time for the saliva to balance things out. 13:55 There are also alkaline foods that you can have. 13:58 even alkaline water that you can use. 14:01 So these are things to maintain pH and saliva levels. 14:04 Remineralize, we've talked about that. 14:06 That's all about the hydroxyapatite on the outside, minerals and vitamins on the inside, and then checkups. 14:13 Come to visit us at the dentist. 14:14 People joke all the time. 14:15 They say, oh, if you eradicate tooth decay, if you get rid of it completely, you're going to be out of a job. 14:20 I say, no, there's plenty to do even if there's no tooth decay. 14:24 My dream is that we do eradicate tooth decay. 14:27 and understanding what causes it is the first step to this. 14:32 So hopefully you've learned some things and you feel empowered to actually take charge of your own oral health. 14:40 to be able to stop tooth decay, be able to stop this cycle of rampant tooth decay, to be able to get that dental exam that you've always dreamed of of, 14:48 no cavities. 14:49 It's possible and it's wonderful when it happens. 14:52 So if you've learned something that you didn't know about before, please share this video, give us a like, subscribe. 14:59 This is the kind of information that I am here sharing every single week, week in and week out. 15:05 And I am so glad you're here because Your oral health doesn't just affect your teeth. 15:10 It affects all of you head to toe and you cannot be completely healthy if your mouth isn't healthy. 15:17 So let's work to get our mouths healthy so that we can be healthy head to toe. 15:22 We're here just to help you have better health top to bottom.
Comments