Cavities, also known as dental caries, are caused by a bacterial imbalance in your mouth. While brushing and flossing can reduce bacteria, neither alters the current acidic bacterial balance in your mouth and you continue to get cavities. CariFree pH elevated products change the chemical balance of your mouth and are scientifically proven to prevent cavities.
Using our understanding of how to strengthen weakened teeth has given us a blueprint for remineralizing teeth. Carifree provides a blueprint for caries management :
Hydroxyapatite – The Basic Building Block
Hydroxyapatite is a naturally occurring form of calcium that makes up as much as 70% bone and is the main mineral in tooth enamel. If you have demineralized enamel, the minerals lost are hydroxyapatite molecules. Improvements in the ability to synthesize bio-identical (just like that which occurs in your body) hydroxyapatite for medical use have greatly benefited people trying to treat early mineral loss in teeth. But, foods are not likely to have bioavailable hydroxyapatite in them.
So, use a toothpaste or tooth gel with bioavailable nano hydroxyapatite.
Fluoride – Mighty Mineral Glue
Hydroxyapatite is the basic building brick, but mortar holds brick together. In the case of teeth, the mortar is fluoride. When hydroxyapatite is applied to the teeth in combination with fluoride, the fluoride helps the teeth incorporate it effectively into the existing enamel structure.
It was once believed that fluoride would only help bind calcium into teeth before erupted, which meant people thought fluoride would only benefit young children. Advances in our understanding of enamel and the oral environment have shown that topical fluoride can help teeth of all ages.
High pH – The Right Environment
There’s a reason that paints and glues specify a temperature range at which they need to cure. The right environmental conditions lead to the right finished state. The same is true of the oral environment and keeping healthy teeth. A high pH environment allows for remineralized teeth.
There is a natural pH cycle in the mouth it drops after eating or drinking sweetened beverages, becoming more acidic, then the high acid environment dissolves minerals out of the teeth. In a healthy mouth, the pH rises with saliva after eating, allowing those minerals to redeposit on the teeth. If anything interrupts the rise in pH (frequent snacks, low saliva, etc.), there is a chance the minerals will be stripped away.
Keep the pH levels high to give the minerals that were dissolved away while eating and the minerals you’ve reintroduced by using the proper oral care products the best chance to remineralize teeth.
Xylitol – The Finishing Touches
Xylitol, a natural sweetener derived from birch trees or plant fiber, is a surprise champion for tooth health. It helps maintain oral health in multiple ways. In addition to killing cavity-causing bacteria by starving it to death, xylitol increases calcium absorption. It also helps raise saliva pH, making the oral environment more friendly for remineralization. Using products with clinically significant amounts of xylitol for oral care is the finishing touch to your building or good health.
