Dental Myths vs Facts

Dental problems are among the most ancient and wide spread diseases affecting mankind. The misconceptions quite often lead to complications of the disease causing increased difficulty in management of the condition. Following are the myths (dental myths ) generally associated with dental care.

Chocolate Eating causes caries/ cavities/ tooth decay 

This is true only if you do not rinse your mouth properly after eating the chocolate. The chocolate particles stick to your tooth and the decay causing bacteria reacts with these food particles to produce acids which are mainly responsible for tooth enamel erosion and decay.

Brushing my teeth several times a day harms the enamel 

This is partially true. Usually, it is enough to brush your teeth two times a day, but if you have an opportunity to brush your teeth more frequently (for example, after every meal), use a soft or extra soft toothbrush.

Upper teeth in children protrudes because of Thumb sucking habit

Thumb sucking is a normal habit for infants and the children feel happy and secure by thumb sucking. This habit starts decreasing one the child reaches 3 years. If the habit continues beyond the age of 4 to 5 years there is a cause for concern because it causes the problem of forward placement of the teeth. You must consult a dental surgeon on this habit if the habit is severe and more frequent.

Decay in Baby Teeth is not a Problem

Parents are of the opinion that there is no need for brushing baby teeth and maintain proper oral hygiene because they will be falling after sometime. They believe dental care of babies can start only after the babies get permanent teeth. In fact, the permanent teeth are growing under the primary teeth and tooth decay in primary teeth will result in damage to permanent teeth. Premature loss of baby teeth might result in improper positioning of the permanent teeth thereby necessitating orthodontic treatment in future.

Extraction of upper teeth will affect vision 

Not true. This is a misconception. Treating the upper teeth or extracting it has nothing to do with vision.

Worms are responsible for Tooth Decay 

Not true. Tooth decay occurs when the tooth enamel is destroyed. Food items such as pop, milk, raisins, candy and cake contain sugars, carbohydrates and starches and if these items stay on the teeth for longer periods it will cause tooth decay. Bacteria inside your mouth react with such foods and produce acids. These acids cause erosion of the enamel on your tooth which in turn results in tooth decay over a period of time.

Professional cleaning/scaling/removal of tartar loosens the teeth

Teeth are held firmly by the supporting tissues of the periodontium including bone. Bad oral hygiene results in the deposition of tartar /calculus on the tooth surface. These deposits irritate the gums and can cause inflammation and bleeding of the gums. If the tartar is not removed, the gums may recede and the supporting bone around the teeth gets destroyed. The tartar on the teeth thus causes great harm to the supporting tissues of the teeth. However, patients may experience slight mobility of the teeth after tartar is removed as it kind of binds the teeth together. Professional cleaning removes this tartar and arrests further destruction of supporting bone. Removal of tartar deposits only helps to recover the health of supporting structures. This chain of events does not take place in people who have dental checkup regularly and experiences good dental health.

So, don't fall prey to this myth.