About Teeth

Teeth are made up of four main materials: enamel, dentin, cementum and pulp. Enamel covers the outside of the crown of the tooth and is very strong, but cannot be re-grown once it decays or is broken off. Dentin makes up most of the inside of the tooth. While it is not as strong as enamel, it still is very durable and holds the tooth together. Each tooth also has a root that holds it into your jaw bone. This root is covered with cementum, a thin coating that makes this attachment to bone stronger. The pulp is made up of nerves and blood vessels. This is how your tooth feels pain and temperature.

Most people have 32 adult teeth and 20 baby teeth, some people are born with fewer teeth while some people may have more.

When a child is about 6 years old, their adult teeth (white) will start to come in, most children will notice the teeth in the front as they push baby teeth (grey) out. The first permanent molars usually come in before your permanent incisors, but can go unnoticed, because they don’t cause you to lose any baby teeth. These molars are the most common teeth to get cavities, as they are so far back of your mouth and come in when you are only about six years old. Getting sealants on these molars is one of the easiest ways to prevent cavities in your 6-7 year old, and most dental insurances will cover it.

Tooth Decay

Whenever the bacteria in your mouth feed on easily digestible sugars and breads, sometimes called “fermentable carbohydrates,” they make acid as a waste product. As this acid sits on your teeth, it slowly dissolves them, and over time the tooth becomes weaker. This leads to holes in your tooth, or cavities. Because these cavities are a result of food and bacteria that stay on your teeth, the areas that get cavities are those areas that are not as easily cleaned, or repeatedly get food caught in them. As the cavities grow, the tooth rots, and eventually becomes painful and could break or fall out. You may notice that some areas on your teeth decay faster than others, for this reason, cavities may seem small on the hard enamel, but are very large in the softer dentin underneath.

Gum Disease

Gum disease does not damage the tooth itself, but the supporting gums and bone are slowly destroyed. Gum disease starts out as plaque buildup around the gum line causes your gums to be infected and inflamed. This infection is called “gingivitis” and later “periodontitis.” If this plaque stays in your mouth for a long time, it then turns into tartar (calculus), and grows deeper and deeper down the side of your tooth. The deeper it grows, the more painful your gums are and the looser your teeth become until they fall out.

Are Sugarbugs Real?

There are many different species of bacteria that live in your mouth, and while most of them are harmless, some of them do cause disease. The “sugarbugs” on this website and in the book are loosely based on “streptococcus mutans,” the specific type of bacteria that is most responsible for tooth decay. While it probably does not have eyes and a mouth, it is shaped like a sphere and has attachments that help it to stick to your teeth and food. It also makes acid as a waste product whenever it eats sugar. These bacteria also use simple carbohydrates from your food to create a biofilm or “plaque” that stick to your teeth, tongue and anything else. This plaque housing allows streptococcus mutans and many other types of bacteria to avoid being rinsed away.