The Little Known History of Fluoride A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a 20th-Century Achievement in Science and Health

chapter 2

Let's get clear what tooth decay really is ... and was

Let's get clear what causes cavities, what they are, and what they lead to.

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Official scientific term for cavities: DENTAL CARIES
X-ray of several molars, with arrows pointing to darkened spot, which is a cavity

Dental x-ray. Arrows point to decay within a tooth. a.k.a., dental caries, Original photo by D. Rosenbach.

This may surprise you but it's true ... Cavities are a Disease
Two quotes from CDC
1
AN INFECTIOUS, COMMUNICABLE, MULTIFACTORIAL DISEASE ...
Caused by germs

Nasty tooth decay bacteria can infect our teeth!

Collage of Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli bacteria icons to show what causes cavities
Spread between people

From adults to babies & toddlers

Icon of mother changing baby diaper
With lots of causes

Such as
Sugar
Dental care
challenges Grooves & pits

Collage of icons of candy, a sucker, candy corn, and wrapped candy Icon of a tooth with grooves and pits in the molar Icon of floss
Two quotes from CDC
2
... In Which BACTERIA DISSOLVE THE ENAMEL SURFACE OF A TOOTH.
Collage of icons of tooth decay bacteria, one Streptococcus mutans cell, three Streptococcus sorbinus cells, two Lactobacillus cells
With acid!
Icon of acid dripping on tooth surfaces
Chemical structures of lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, and formic acid, all acids produced by tooth decay bacteria, which cause cavities

In their review of the fundamentals of tooth decay, CDC cited a paper titled "Prevention and reversal of dental caries: role of low level fluoride." Written by the dean of one of the leading schools of dentistry in the country and published in a key journal in the field, Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology ...

First page of 1999 paper by Featherstone, Prevention and reversal of dental caries: role of low level fluoride

In that paper ...

John Featherstone
John Featherstone speaking at UCSF

Dean and Professor of the School of Dentistry at the University of California, San Francisco described the role of bacteria in tooth decay this way:

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Photo by Eneas De Troya from Mexico City

Certain of the bacteria in dental plaque ... produce acids when they metabolize fermentable carbohydrates. These acids ... can dissolve the calcium phosphate mineral of the tooth enamel or dentin. If this process is not halted or reversed, the carious lesion progresses, eventually leading to a cavity. Any fermentable carbohydrate such as glucose, sucrose, fructose, or cooked starch, can be metabolized by these bacteria....

Let's break that down ...

Certain of the ...

bacteria in dental plaque

Germs on your teeth

Collage of Streptococcus mutans and lactobacilli bacteria icons to show what causes cavities
produce acids when they metabolize fermentable carbohydrates Fancy way of saying those germs eat sugar and carbs
Collage of sugary and starchy cavity-causing foods, sugar, cupcake, fruit, banana, breads
... any fermentable carbohydrate such as glucose, sucrose, fructose, or cooked starch Those germs like a lot of the same things you do ... things like toast, crackers, seven-up, lemonade, bananas, apples, rice, potato chips ...
Chemical structures of fermentable carbohydrates which cause tooth decay, glucose, sucrose, fructose, starch
These acids can dissolve the calcium phosphate mineral of the tooth enamel or dentin
Cross-section of a tooth showing enamel layer and dentin layer, with percent composition - enamel is 85 percent mineral, 3 percent protein/lipid, 12 percent water, while dentin is 47 percent mineral, 33 percent protein/lipid, and 20 percent water.

Acid from bacteria eats away at the mineral in your hard enamel first ...
then goes to work on the mineral in your softer dentin

Uh, Dr. Featherstone and CDC are much too polite to lay out what's really going on here with S. mutans, but we're not afraid to say it ...

This little bacterial f*%ker basically mooches off the food you were eating.

And then it POOPS out ACID. ONTO your teeth. Destroying your poor pearly whites in the process. Worst. Roommate. Ever.
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But wait. It gets worse ... Here are things CDC says can happen if bacteria and cavities go unchecked:
  • Loss of tooth structure
    Top view of a molar with a cavity drilled out and ready to fill

    Photo by D. Rosenbach

    Cavity drilled out and ready to fill ...

    What do you think? How much of that tooth is lost? A fifth? A fifth of the crown of this tooth is GONE

  • Incapacitating pain
    Icon of person with a toothache
  • Infection of the pulp
    Cross-section of a tooth showing pulp

    Infection & death leads to a ROOT CANAL

    - More ouch!

    - More loss of tooth structure:

    DRILLED DOWN TO A NUB & CAPPED

  • Pulpal necrosis
  • Tooth extraction
    Icon of pliers used in tooth extractions
  • Loss of dental function
    Cheeky redhead woman looking at her dentures popped out stuck in an apple she was biting into

    We don't go for a whole lot of stock photography here at Fluoride Exposed, but we couldn't resist making the $8 purchase for this cheeky lady's photo.

    Loss of dental function? Loss of dental function, indeed!

  • Acute systemic infection
    Icon of a person sick in bed with a fever

    Dental
    infection can spread to other parts of the body, including the heart & brain

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Whew.

Well, we're convinced. Looking at what causes cavities and their consequences ... Cavities ARE a big deal.

But wait, did CDC say cavities were an even bigger deal in the past? Yup. So, in the next section, we'll take a trip ... a trip down memory lane ... a trip to the days of dentures.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACHIEVEMENT
OF THE 20TH CENTURY #4

box with water glass inside

Fluoridation of
Drinking Water to
Prevent Dental Caries

Next up ...

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