How Long Does It Take To Reverse Tooth Decay? Although there is no way to answer perfectly, here is some information that will hopefully help you make a decision: The gist of the matter is – it varies. A lot! And here’s why…
Because each and every tooth has its own condition, treatment needs, and healing properties (we’ll explain why in the following paragraphs), there is no way to tell exactly how long it will take for your teeth to heal.
It might take longer than you expect, in some cases, it may even be shorter, but I guarantee that if you follow the advice laid out in this article, your teeth will show signs of a healthy healing process – if not complete healing.
See, there are three common causes for tooth decay:
- The bacteria in your mouth digest the sugars found in the foods you eat. These are then excreted by the gums as acid, which erodes tooth enamel and leads to cavities on the teeth.
- Every time you ingest large amounts of food that is highly acidic, such as most soft drinks, carbonated beverages, coffee, or even fruit juices, bacteria responsible for tooth decay may feed on the food and produce more acids.
- When you don’t take care of your teeth by brushing them with fluoride-based toothpaste at least twice a day or flossing several times a week, plaque accumulates. Plaque is mainly made of bacteria that use proteins and sugars in your mouth to grow and multiply.
In all three cases, what happens is that the acids produced by bacteria eat away at the tooth enamel.
If you have deep cavities or a lot of plaque, healing might take longer than if you have just worn down enamel with improper brushing. If you go to sleep with your mouth open and snore a lot, your mouth oxygen levels are low, which leads to a slower healing process.
After all, your mouth heals from the inside out and teeth undergo remodeling: they grow in areas of high stress caused by biting forces on the teeth, especially with certain types of fillings or crowns. In order for this growth to occur, there must be a great deal of healthy, living enamel. If the decay is too deep or has eaten away too much of your tooth structure, it may take longer for them to heal.
The Process of Reversing Tooth Decay Includes Three Main Steps
Step 1: Repairing the Remnants of Tooth Structure
The remnants of a decayed tooth are called dental caries, which literally means “to eat away.”
In order for your teeth to heal properly and completely, you need to treat the exposed areas of enamel so that they don’t continue to decay.
This exposes more of the underlying dentin that can be further attacked by bacteria, which erodes more of the tooth structure.
It is therefore essential that you return to a dentist or an endodontist (specialist in treating problems inside the teeth) so they can perform traditional dental treatment on your teeth: sealants, fillings, crowns, bridges, and other restorative procedures.
Step 2: Restoring the Enamel
Since tooth enamel contains minerals, your next step is to restore its chemical composition by remineralizing it.
Remineralization means bringing back the minerals that got lost from your teeth during the decay process and replacing them with healthy ones.
What you need to do is get as much calcium and phosphate into your mouth as possible. This is why you’ll want to brush at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste (most dentists prefer Colgate Total, Sensodyne Pronamel, or Rembrandt Plus Arginine ).
You’ll also want to take calcium supplements – the more, the better! The process of remineralization takes time, so you should remain consistent with your oral care routine.
Conventional medicine does not recognize this step as truly necessary, but we believe that in order to protect what’s left of the tooth structure and start to rebuild it into healthy enamel, you need to remineralize your teeth.
Remember, only the living part of your tooth is going to completely remineralize, and we want it to heal as fast as possible.
Step 3: Chiropractic Adjustments
A proper chiropractic adjustment can stimulate the body’s own healing processes.
This helps speed up the process of repair in many ways. If your treatment schedule allows it, you should come in for an adjustment once every few days or once a week at the very least.
You may not need chiropractic adjustments for every appointment since you are actively taking care of your cavities, but every two or three treatments should include a chiropractic adjustment.
How long does it take to reverse tooth decay?
According to what is commonly available on the Internet and other sources, the answer is anywhere from six months to one year. While that’s true in many cases, it’s not always the case.
We have seen tooth cavities reverse within five months, but that was in someone who came to us with the right mindset and did everything they could do to make their cavities heal as fast as possible.
The six-month mark is considered a reasonable timeframe for reversing tooth decay – even one year if you’re not dedicated to doing everything that needs to be done.
We believe in aiming for the best results and having your cavities heal as quickly as possible, so we would encourage you to set a timeline and stick with it.
See Dentitox Pro>> a nutritional formula created with the goal to safeguard oral health.
What is the fastest way to cure tooth decay?
As we mentioned above, the fastest way to reverse tooth decay is to do everything possible that can be done. That means you must eliminate all of your bad habits and eat only healthy foods.
You are what you eat – remember that! If you want to shorten the time for reversing tooth decay, then you have to consume foods that promote healing – foods that are loaded with nutrients.
Now, eating healthy is a broad term that essentially means doing your best to eat as much nutrient-rich food as possible. This means you should start enjoying the benefits of raw fruits and vegetables and stop eating processed foods and fast food (ever heard of the phrase “junk in = junk out”?).
When is the best time to see a dentist?
The best time to see a dentist for any dental treatment is before your tooth becomes badly decayed. Once it’s reached the point of infection and decay, you may have lost precious enamel that cannot be remineralized successfully anymore. Your next priority should be to conduct a thorough analysis of your oral health, preventing future cavities and infections.
If you are interested in learning more about how long does it take to reverse tooth decay or other dental health questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!
We hope we were able to answer some of your questions about how long does it take to reverse tooth decay.
If you have any dental issues or concerns, never wait until they get worse! See a dentist as soon as you can.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth_enamel
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0109564117313039