Is there a non-stop party in your mouth?

Tooth decay is caused by a bacterial infection. (Caries is a bacterial infection: Caries is the disease, and decay is the result of the disease.) Bad bacteria—the kind that rots your teeth—thrives in an acidic environment. So if the environment in your mouth is highly acidic, you could be hosting a nonstop party which feeds and nourishes decay-causing bacteria. And no amount of flossing and brushing will stem the tide because they don’t attack the real cause of decay. Think of it as a lawn overgrown with weeds. Mowing and watering (brushing and flossing) will keep the lawn growing and looking decent, but it won’t kill the weeds (decay).

The solution is to maintain a pH-neutral (non-acidic) environment in your mouth that won’t support the growth of decay-causing infection. No acid, no bad bacteria, no decay. Case closed.

That’s the wisdom behind Minimally Invasive Dentistry (MID), the idea that the surest path to long-term dental health is through education, prevention and early intervention.

Certainly general prevention practices will improve your chances against tooth decay. But MID is an opportunity to change the very conditions that give rise to problems in the first place. MID puts you in the driver’s seat.

Dr. Ken Beadling is on the leading edge of MID, and is using this new technology to empower patients (through information, skills and motivation) to take charge of their own dental health. The benefits for those who do are substantial. Not only will they require minimal intervention from dentists, but they will protect the health, function and aesthetics of their teeth. Preventing decay is much less expensive than fixing decay, not to mention the time not spent in a dental chair.

Caries is an infectious bacterial disease that, if left untreated, will eventually erode the minerals in tooth enamel, allowing cavities to form. The CariFree System used by Dr. Ken Beadling Dentistry uses the new science of testing for and treating dental bacterial infection. In involves an initial one-minute test to screen for decay-causing bacteria. Treatment is the use of a series of CariFree antibacterial mouth rinses to reduce the bacterial levels on your teeth and balance the pH in your mouth—improving your chances of avoiding future tooth decay.

So that’s why no dentistry is the best dentistry at all. Dr. Ken Beadling is leading the movement away from the traditional surgical model of drill-and-fill dentistry toward a medical model which emphasizes diagnosis, early detection and prevention. For Dr. Ken, MID is the most logical next step in improving patient service and outcomes. For you, it’s the best of all worlds—good dental health with minimal old-style dentistry. To learn more, call today.