The human mouth is home to many microorganisms, both heroes and villains. The most famous villains feed on the sugar we eat. Sugars make the villains strong, and the villains can hurt our teeth and cause dental caries (cavities). Cavities often happen when we eat too many candies and do not brush our teeth which make our teeth extremely weak. To prevent cavities, we can change our eating behaviors and improve our oral hygiene habits, which include brushing our teeth with toothpaste and using dental floss. It is important to ensure that our teeth are strong and healthy. After all, who does not want to have healthy teeth?
Dental caries can cause cavities in teeth and can lead to severe pain. Decay is caused by bacteria that thrive on sweets and foods rich in carbohydrates, so they can be seen as the villains that lead to the formation of cavities. To protect themselves against decay, the teeth create a type of hard barrier inside themselves to keep decay out. The formation of this barrier is called tooth repair because the tooth cells rebuild, from within, the walls that were destroyed by decay. Scientists have tried to imitate the creation of this barrier in their laboratories, by using the tooth cells that can form various parts of the tooth. But achieving the entire process of tooth repair in the laboratory is not an easy task. Scientist and dentists still need to learn a great deal!
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.