Dental caries: what is it? - The disease

12 important questions on Dental caries: what is it? - The disease

How may the metabolism be dramatically enhanced?

By changing the nutritional conditions

How can the outcome of the metabolism be recorded?

As pH fluctuations

What will do any shift in pH?

It will influence the chemical composition of the biofilm fluid and the relative degree of saturation of this fluid with respect to the minerals that are important for maintaining the chemical composition of the tooth surface
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What will happen to surfaces that are frequently covered by biofilm?

Will gradually accumulate fluoride in the very surface layers (outermost 100 microm)

When do we diagnose the enamel as a 'white spot' lesion?

When the cumulative result of the numerous pH fluctuations over months or years is a net loss of calcium and phosphate of an extent that makes the enamel sufficiently porous to be seen in clinic

Why should the metabolic events be considered intrinsic to biofilm physiology?

Because although the metabolic events may result in detectable caries lesion formation, most sequences of metabolic events tend to cancel each other

When do the caries lesions arise?

When there is a drift in the metabolic events; that is, when the pH drops result in a net loss of mineral

Where does the dissolution (demineralization) when pH drops below a certain level in the biofilm and the redeposition (remineralization) of minerals takes place?

In the enamel surface at the interface between the biofilm and the tooth surface

What happens when the biofilm is partly or totally removed?

Mineral loss may be arrested or even reversed towards mineral gain because saliva is supersaturated with respect to the enamel apatite

Which factors influences the metabolic processes?

The composition (content and buffering proteins) and thickness of the biofilm, the salivary secretion rate and composition, the diet, and the fluoride ion concentration in the oral fluids

What do this factors of metabolic processes affect?

It will contribute to the likelihood of a net loss of mineral and the rate at which this occurs

What does the absence of a clinically detectable caries lesion means?

It does not mean that no mineral loss has occurred; it only means that it could not be discerned clinically

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

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