Prevention of dental caries

Abstract

The enamel surface is the site at which attempts at caries prevention can most profitably be concentrated. In this connection, it was pointed out that saliva not only serves to keep the tooth surface clean but may, in some way, reinforce it and make it more resistant to dental decay. At this time, methods for increasing the protective effect of saliva are not known. It was pointed out that the tooth surface seems to undergo reactions with its oral environment, resulting in “chemical maturation,” which makes it more resistant to the destructive forces of dental decay. The action of fluorine is an example of such an effect and makes its use, either in water supplies or as applications on the teeth, the most practical procedure for the partial control of caries. That fluorine has such an effect suggests that other agents, including natural food constituents, might also influence the destructibility of the enamel surface. It was concluded that attempts to control the bacteria on the tooth surface offer little promise of practical caries prevention. Instead, it was decided that the best hope of reducing the acid attack from bacteria-foodstuff complexes rests in reducing the frequency of eating sweet foods and that, at present, this is the only effective dietary recommendation which can be made. The advantage of substituting liquid or other carbohydrate foods of low cariogenicity for those with high cariogenicity was suggested as a promising approach to the dietary control of caries.