Can Your Teeth Repair Themselves?

The short answer is yes but it still depends on the extent of the damage. And yes, it actually takes a lot of work regularly to help the teeth repair and protect themselves.

Can your teeth repair themselves?

Our teeth are constantly under attack from acids. That’s because the bacteria inside our mouths feed on the sugar and starch coming from our food and beverages. Often acid is the waste product from their activities and survival. That acid eats away the enamel from our teeth.

Good thing is that enamel can actually repair itself because of the calcium and phosphate in our saliva plus the fluoride from toothpaste and water. In other words, the teeth and enamel naturally regain the minerals lost caused by the acid attack from bacteria. It’s actually a cycle of loss and regain throughout the day, which is why it takes months or even years for our enamel to wear out even if we practice poor oral hygiene.

However, the damage can be too much if we neglect our teeth and gums for too long. The mineral regain process might not be able to catch up with the loss from acid attack (which results in cavities). As a result, we have to act promptly and slow down the acid attack (and catch up with the regain process). We can easily accomplish that by practicing good oral hygiene again. The minerals will be replenished before it’s too late.

For better regain and protection, a professional dental cleaning is sure to help. It’s a more thorough cleaning where it can reach even the hiding spots of bacteria and plaque. This is like giving the bacteria a hard time to thrive again and destroy the enamel. It’s true that the teeth can repair themselves. But if you want better results and peace of mind, a quick visit to the dentist is a huge help.

Surely it takes a lot of work to protect our teeth especially as we age. Keep in mind that our teeth are under constant acid attack day and night. Good thing is we just need to brush our teeth twice a day and visit the dentist every six months. Even if we miss brushing our teeth a few times each week, our teeth and gums will still be fine.

Even if our teeth and gums get worse maybe because of an accident (direct physical impact to the tooth) or long-term poor oral hygiene, there are still modern effective ways to fix that. No matter how careful we are, sooner or later we’re going to be under a dental procedure or treatment. That doesn’t mean we should relax and let everything happen though. It’s still an inconvenience (and sometimes expensive) so it just makes sense to maintain good oral hygiene for the long term.

Here at Big Smiles Dental we want our patients to maintain and improve their oral health. Here we regularly perform modern procedures and treatments that help patients improve their smiles and gain confidence. We also help both children and adults better protect their teeth and gums. Our friendly team works hard to make it a smooth approach even to children.