Cavity Prevention in Santa Rosa
How do I prevent cavities?
Our Assessment reveals you are at high risk of having new cavities in the future, especially if you have a dry mouth. Tooth decay or dental caries can cause breakage, ugly discolorations, pain, and eventually tooth loss. In order to prevent tooth decay and avoid more costly restorative dentistry in the future, we strongly recommend the following:
- Review with us your dietary and oral hygiene habits and receive instruction on both. The most important thing is to reduce the number of between-meal snacks that contain carbohydrates, especially refined sugar.
- Brush twice daily with a high fluoride toothpaste (5,000 parts per million fluorides), brush for at least two minutes, spit, and do not rinse. This is to be used in place of your regular toothpaste. We can provide some for you today.
- Suck or chew xylitol candies or gum four times daily; the naturally-occurring sugar, xylitol kills the bacteria that cause decay
- Have the necessary restorative work done, such as fillings or crowns, as needed in a minimally invasive fashion.
- Return when requested for a thorough professional cleaning and a recall exam in three to four months to re-evaluate your progress and current caries risk.
- Get new bitewing radiographs (X-rays) about every six to twelve months to check for caries between the teeth.
- Get a fluoride varnish treatment for all of your teeth every three to four months at your recall exams.
- Use a baking soda and rinse four to six times daily during the day. You can make this yourself by shaking up two teaspoons of baking soda in an eight-ounce bottle of water.
Want To Smile With Confidence?
At Fountaingrove Dentistry, our goal is provide outstanding general, cosmetic, and restorative dental care. Contact us today with any questions or to schedule your appointment!