Is there an effective remedy or medicine for caries?

Despite the prevalence of caries and well-established methods of its treatment, a remedy for caries, which would help to treat it with the already existing and far-reaching pathological process, has not yet been created. The reason for this is the irreversibility of the deep destruction of tooth enamel and dentin: if they are badly damaged, then the body is no longer able to repair them on its own.

Moreover, in the future, the tooth tissue under the already existing lesions will constantly collapse, and the rate of their destruction will be determined by a combination of many unfavorable factors: the nature of the diet, the quantity and quality of hygienic procedures of the oral cavity, the general condition of the body, heredity and others.

As a result, the treatment of caries in most cases is performed by surgical methods: opening the enamel, removing dentin damaged by caries and installing a seal.In severe cases, you have to remove the pulp (nerves), make canal filling, etc.

The only stage at which the disease can be effectively cured without opening the tooth, using certain means of caries is the stage of the stain on the enamel (it may be white or even already pigmented in brown). During this period, the carious cavity in it has not yet formed, and with proper treatment, the pathological process itself stops, and the initial damage to the mineral structure of the enamel can be restored.

But the main thing: all these procedures can be performed only by a doctor. Even having a caries medicine at hand, it is impossible to prepare a tooth for its application and to apply auxiliary preparations without special equipment. For example, in general, remineralizing therapy for the restoration of enamel during caries at the stage of a chalky spot looks as follows:

1. Tooth with detected initial caries in the staining stage, it is first thoroughly cleaned by mechanical methods from pellicle and plaque.
2. Then the injury site is treated with a concentrated acid, for example, 40% citric acid.This is not yet a remedy for caries, but simply a way to further clean and prepare the surface for subsequent processing.
3. After that, the caries agent itself is superimposed on the carious stain — various remineralizing drugs, for example, 10% calcium gluconate or calcium hydrochloride, solutions of mineral phosphates, fluorine-containing salts. Special preparations can also be used, such as Remodent. Usually funds are applied by application, but sometimes electrophoresis is used.

Applications are repeated for several days (usually 10-20 procedures are enough). In the case of initial caries in the white spot stage, the enamel is likely to recover almost completely.

If a hole has already been formed in the enamel, and caries has spread to the internal structures of the tooth, treatment will require removal of the damaged areas with the help of a dental drill.

All other means of caries, including those that can be used at home, are intended primarily to prevent disease and protect teeth from damage. There are many professional prophylactic agents for caries, which, when properly used, reliably prevent the occurrence of the disease.

 

Preparations of fluoride and calcium in the fight against tooth decay

Choosing what helps from caries first of all it is necessary to pay attention to the means based on fluorine or calcium. In this case, combining both types of agents, in some cases, it is possible to obtain a more pronounced result than with their use separately (tooth enamel consists mainly of the mineral compound fluorapatite, which contains calcium, phosphorus and fluorine in its crystal lattice).

From fluoride and calcium-containing substances to the kind of "medicine" for caries can be attributed to the following:

• Sodium fluoride, which in the form of a dilute aqueous solution is applied to the teeth every few days. Fluorine ions, embedded in the crystal lattice of tooth enamel, make it more resistant to the action of organic acids.
• Fluorlac - a means of similar action. It is applied on the teeth 1-2 times a week.
• Salt with a high content of fluorine. It can be added to food instead of regular salt, as well as rinsing the mouth with water with its addition several times a day.
• Fluorinated water.
• Calcium preparations: gluconate, glycerophosphate, lactate, which are used in the form of tablets.
• Fluoride dental floss.When brushing your teeth with their help, applied fluoride remains on the enamel and is included in the composition of its components.
• Fitin, a product with a high content of calcium and phosphorus.
• Fluoride tablets for caries, which can be used as directed by the dentist.

These funds can be used independently at home as prescribed by a doctor. Water with a high content of fluoride and fluoridated salt can be included in the diet independently, but they should not be abused: an excess of fluoride in the body can also be harmful.

Dentists for caries prevention Professional tools may be used. These include, for example, the following:

• Paper and paraffin discs containing fluorine compounds. The dentist puts such a disk on the tip of the drill instead of boron and at a low speed he processes the tooth. Fluorine remains on the enamel.
• Special remineralizing solutions with a high concentration of fluorine and calcium compounds (hundreds of times higher than their content in human saliva).

All these tools provide an easy and quick application of the active components on the tooth.But they also have a disadvantage: when they are used, fluoride and calcium are quickly washed from the tooth, and therefore these preparations must be used often. Therefore, for more reliable prevention, dentists use special varnishes and sealants.

 

Varnishes and caries gels

Varnishes for caries are relatively new products that are used by dentists with some caution. The most famous such varnish today is the German ICON. It is colorless and after cleaning the stains of caries is applied directly to the enamel. The varnish immediately fills all the micro-cavities on the enamel, after which it shines through the lamp and it hardens, forming a reliable barrier to cariogenic agents on the surface of the tooth.

Important:

It is advisable to apply caries varnishes only at the stain stage. With the defeat of the dentin effect, they will not give.

The main disadvantage of this tool is its high cost. The cost of one serving of ICON in the treatment of caries today is about 4,000-5,000 rubles, but it can be difficult for the doctor to explain to the patient what the money goes: there are no damages on the tooth, it seems to be gone, and purely visual money is paid for nothing.

On a note

Because of the transparency of varnishes, the patient needs to constantly carry his / her card with him: the dentist will be able to determine the amount of varnish applied only by the records. To a certain extent, it binds the patient to a single clinic.

But caries gels are the means that are quite suitable for self-prevention. They are applied to the teeth after brushing with regular toothpaste. Examples of such gels are:

• Blend-a-med;
• Fluodent;
• Elmex (Elmex);
• ROCS Medical Minerals (Rocks Medical Minerals);
• Fluokal.

Gels from caries can be bought and used independently. With fair and proper use, they will significantly reduce the risk of teeth damage. Such a remedy for caries can be purchased at almost any pharmacy.

 

Sealants as a protection of teeth

Caries sealers resemble varnishes on the principle of their action, but they are intended for the treatment of fissures of perfectly healthy teeth. By their nature, they are composite resins that, after being applied to teeth, harden when exposed to air or special radiation.

Sealants are processed places of the most likely development of caries: fissures, seals joints with enamel, the places to which braces are attached.Very well known are Fissurit, Helioseal, Pit Fissure Sealant sealants. These funds are applied for a certain period during which they are gradually erased and removed from the tooth surface in a natural way.

 

What kind of toothpaste should be used to protect teeth from tooth decay?

As effective protection against caries Toothpastes that contain fluoride are well suited (except when fluoride compounds are contraindicated). But even a simple paste already from the mere use of it and cleaning the teeth from food debris contributes to the prevention of caries. Pastes with active ingredients strengthen the enamel and reduce the risk of damage to the teeth even more.

It is not necessary to buy expensive toothpastes, it is only important to pay attention to its basic composition and the presence of auxiliary components. But, as practice shows, it is PresiDENT, Silca, Blend-a-Med, Splat, Colgate pastes that have the most balanced composition.

 

Chewing gum from caries: are they effective?

Advertised chewing gum as a reliable means of caries are not suitable. However, they to some extent contribute to the removal of food particles from the gaps between the teeth after eating.However, they do not have a pronounced strengthening effect on tooth enamel, and if they are too enthusiastic about chewing gum, they even contribute to abrasion and wear of teeth.

Xylitol, which many consumers have learned only from advertising Orbit and Dirola, is a simple sugar substitute, neutral for tooth enamel. It does not bring a pronounced benefit to the teeth, nor does it harm, and in chewing gum its task is to make the taste pleasant and not be a possible substrate for the growth of cariogenic microorganisms, such as sucrose.

From the practice of the dentist

There are different opinions about the benefits of xylitol for teeth. For example, I had a teacher of pediatric dentistry: a professor Ph.D. Over the course of 5 years of study, she told us the phrase: “Xylitol is a contraceptive for Streptococcus mutans” (this is her personal aphorism) ... This doctor can be trusted, since in her dashing years she was almost removed because she refused to sign water fluoridation in favor of money laundering on this, has banned some of the advertised pasta, etc. In general, an independent expert and the iron grandmother of the Soviet quenching.Her monograph, including an article about the positive properties of chewing gum with xylitol, is still kept by me. The only thing there is the likelihood of fakes of gum, but this is another legal case.

In general, chewing gum can be used immediately after a meal or at crucial moments to freshen breath. But you should not rely on them as effective means of caries.

The culture of chewing gum is also important. In particular, it is recommended to use chewing gum with xylitol after a meal only for 10-15 minutes. This increases salivation, leaching food residues from the enamel surface, improves mineralization and the return of fluoride and calcium back to the enamel (since saliva is, quite simply, “liquid enamel”). Longer use is not recommended due to the overstressing of masticatory muscles, etc.

It is forbidden to use gum between meals, as this leads to disruption of the gastrointestinal tract: it is even possible to develop gastritis on the background of constant chewing in the absence of food in the stomach.

 

Folk remedies that do not exactly help

But most of the popular recipes, which are actively protected by village healers and for which patients who fear a drill hope so much, do not work against caries. Such folk remedies for caries include, for example, the following:

• Treatment of caries with soda can hardly be called an effective measure. Folk prerequisites for this are as follows: the main cause of caries is damage to the teeth enamel by acids. It would seem that soda neutralizes acids, so when used inside it should make alkaline saliva. It's a delusion. The composition of saliva does not change with the use of soda, and when rinsing the mouth, soda raises the pH in the oral cavity, but the effect is very short. Therefore, soda from caries practically does not help. But, by the way, and will not bring special harm.
• Propolis and zabrus from caries are also useless. Moreover, these substances are a breeding ground for cariogenic bacteria. Their regular presence in the oral cavity increases the risk of caries. At the same time, both zabrus and caries propolis are equally ineffective.
• Honey from caries is even less effective and to some extent even more dangerous.It consists of easily digestible carbohydrates (glucose, fructose), which only increase the activity of bacteria in the mouth. The postulate that caries is afraid of honey is a blatant, unscientific nonsense promoted to the masses by especially enterprising beekeepers, as well as treatment of caries propolis or tuberculosis - tincture of the wax moth.
• Horsetail, vodka and milk powder are equally worthless against caries.

Of the really useful folk remedies against caries can be called natural fresh milk, which, with regular use contributes to the supply of the body as a whole, and teeth in particular, calcium.

 

Vaccination against caries: reality or fantasy?

Vaccine against caries does not exist today. In 2011, Chinese scientists said they developed a vaccine against cariogenic bacteria in the oral cavity. However, after this, there is no news from the Middle Kingdom.

In addition, the very information about such a vaccine against caries raises many questions. For example, it is unclear exactly what will contain antibodies designed to fight bacteria. Indeed, in other cases, vaccine-induced immune system cells with infectious agents fight in the blood or lymph.And in the oral cavity, they simply will not be able to reach their targets in sufficient quantities (although immunoglobulins are contained in saliva). Therefore, vaccination against caries - this is still a lot of science fiction.

But the development of new tools for caries continues. For example, Americans are working on a gel that would block the mechanism for the production of acids by the bacteria in the oral cavity, the French even try to create a hormonal drug that would trigger the enamel buildup mechanism. But all these developments have so far not left the walls of university laboratories, and only experimental rodents "rejoice" them. Therefore, ordinary citizens to protect against decay so far have to rely on the dentist's office and attentive attitude to their teeth.

 

An interesting video: is it possible to cure caries without going to the doctor?

 

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