Dental Caries Defined

Bacteria normally live in your mouth and convert many of the foods you eat into acids, especially sugars and starches. The bacteria, acid, food and saliva combine to form a substance called plaque, which adheres as a thin coating to your teeth. If the plaque is not removed, the acids within plaque can slowly dissolve the enamel on the surface of your teeth, thus creating holes called cavities. Mineralization of plaque forms tartar. Any nutritional deficiencies that increase plaque or decrease enamel thickness will increase the possibility of dental caries.

Vitamins

A special protein found in your saliva, mucin, helps protect your tooth enamel from erosion. Vitamin A is required for the production of mucin. A deficiency in vitamin A can reduce your mucin and compromise salivary flow, which increases your risk of dental caries. Also, keratin, a protein used by your body to make tooth enamel, requires vitamin A for its synthesis. Adequate vitamin C is needed to create collagen to form tooth dentin and vitamin D is required by calcium to mineralize strong bones and teeth. Deficiencies in these vitamins increase the risk of dental caries.

Minerals

Calcium is an important mineral in structural tooth formation. Once your teeth have formed, they do not change their composition very much throughout life. Intestinal calcium absorption requires vitamin D for adequate nutritional intake from your digestive tract. In a 2001 study in the “American Journal of Medicine,” an adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D increased tooth retention by 19 percent. Therefore, dietary mineral deficiencies can weaken the structural integrity of growing teeth and predispose them to dental caries.

Caries Causing Nutritional Deficiency

Dental caries can cause nutritional deficiencies. As caries progresses, holes develop in your tooth enamel and allow bacterial invasion of your inner tooth. The subsequent infection can cause tooth loss and pain. Such poor oral health may cause you to alter your nutritional intake by eliminating important fruits, vegetables and fiber. Also, a reduced ability to chew may promote the need to soften foods by overcooking. Overcooking causes an additional loss of nutrients from your diet.