Transcript
Episode 2: The Real Culprit of Cavities
This is Dentistry Disrupted with Dr. Craig D. Clayton. I'm a wellness and biomimetic dentist, passionate change maker, social media thought leader, and educator on disrupting the way we approach oral health care. Come along with me as we journey towards a healthier and more empowered you. Hello, welcome back my friend! Last week I shared a brief overview of my journey into biomimetic and wellness dentistry and why I have become known as the Cavities Guy on Instagram, among other things. Today I'll be teaching you the number one most misunderstood thing about cavities and this is one of my passions in prevention. Most people were taught that cavities are caused by sugar and not brushing and flossing enough. You've heard things like if you eat too much candy or drink soda you will get cavities or you don't floss and brush enough. And my least favorite, you don't brush or floss your kids teeth enough and not using fluoride has also caused this issue. These answers drive me nuts because they are way oversimplifying a complex problem and blaming one singular thing or another instead of looking at the person as a whole. I had someone send me a DM saying that her previous dentist was going over her x-rays with her and loudly said, lay off the soda pop hun, in front of all of the other patients. Can you even believe that? Just because she was dealing with a big cavities problem, she was totally humiliated, partly because she didn't even drink that much soda, and rushed out of the office with tears streaming down her face. So, if sugar causes cavities, then why do people who eat a whole food diet still get cavities? Secondly, if not brushing and flossing causes cavities, why do some people who don't brush and floss regularly not get cavities? And then there are other people who brush and floss as if they are in the oral hygiene Olympics and still get new cavities diagnosed frequently. This starts to feel really frustrating and hopeless for many of you. I know because I get DMs from you all the time sharing your overwhelm with cavities. This seriously breaks my heart. I want for everyone to feel educated, empowered, and confident about their oral health, which is why I am here in your earbuds. Well, you guessed it, cavities are more complex than sugar elimination and brushing bonanza. Here is the number one misunderstood truth about cavities. Are you ready? All right, here we go. First, cavities are not a sugar problem. Yes, you heard that right. Cavities are not a sugar problem. They are an acid problem. A little bit of anatomy for you about teeth. They're primarily made of minerals calcium and phosphate. Acid is what pulls calcium out of the teeth starting the formation of a cavity. So acid is the real problem. Does sugar play a role? Sure, but it's different than you think. Do you remember the pH scale from science class? If you don't, don't worry about it. I got your back. Here's all that you need to know. Neutral is a pH of 7, which is what your mouth and body like to be at when balanced. Acid is represented by a low number. The opposite of acid, alkaline, is represented by a large number. For example, battery acid, which is extremely acidic, is a pH of 1. And bleach is a pH of 13, which is extremely alkaline. Neutral again is a pH of 7, which is what your mouth and body like to be at. Any time your mouth dips below a pH of 5.5, the teeth start to lose calcium and this happens all the time when we eat. It's a normal process. I had a patient that lived a very low-tox lifestyle, had eliminated processed foods from her diet, and was still getting cavities. Come to find out her mouth was constantly acidic due to drinking lemon water all day long. I'm not saying to not enjoy your lemon water or your apple cider vinegar shots or whatever else you want to consume, but how you consume it is really the key. All right. So I hope this episode gave you some aha moments. Even if you do not struggle with cavities personally, I guarantee you know somebody who does, who could benefit from learning about what is going on with cavities. Please send this episode to them. Help us spread the word, help us put an end to this disease by educating more people. If this podcast was helpful in any way, it would mean the world to me if you would subscribe and leave a review. I need your help to get the word out about this podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today on Dentistry Disrupted. Until next time!
