Mead Family Dental
Imagine that you’ve just had your teeth cleaned. The hygienist steps out to get the doctor who’s going to come in and take a look. You hold your breath and cross your fingers hoping against hope that he doesn’t find any "cavities."
Has anyone ever explained to you what a cavity is, exactly? The simple answer is that a cavity is a hole in your tooth. Kind of like someone took a jackhammer to a concrete driveway and put a hole in it, right?
A better answer is that it’s irreversible evidence of tooth decay.
I think of it like my gravel driveway. When we first moved in it was nice and smooth. But then it was exposed to wave after wave of Michigan weather. Heavy thunderstorms, weeks of hot and dry summers and entire seasons of snowplowing. After a couple years of this we’ve got some potholes now.
These potholes are like cavities. They’re the evidence of our Michigan weather on my gravel driveway. No one came in with a jackhammer and put those potholes in, they happened due to weather conditions, driving up and down our driveway and the fact that I haven’t added any gravel over time. Unfortunately, these potholes won’t fix themselves! Cavities are the same way, once the smooth surface of our teeth has been broken down, the teeth can’t repair themselves and they need help. Unlike my driveway, we won’t need a shovel and wheelbarrow to fix them!
The trick to avoiding cavities is to control the "harsh weather" in our mouths along with upgrading our potholed driveways to asphalt or concrete. I’m afraid that moving to Florida won’t help either! More about that in a later post!
If you have any questions or comments about this blog or would like me to write about your dental questions feel free to email me at alan@meadfamilydental.com or leave a comment at the end of the post!
