Tooth decay, which is medically termed as dental caries, is perhaps the most common enemy faced by so many people. It can affect people of all ages, from the young ones to the old ones. This problem is already widespread and there are a lot of questions being raised like why there is tooth decay, what are inflamed gums and how can we minimize and totally be away from acquiring such dental problem. With all the suggestions and recommendations that most of us know, the simplest and most popular answer to this question is to have a good oral hygiene.

We have come to know that not brushing well enough can cause a lot of dental problems. But, what we do not know is that there are other factors that can affect our oral health and may eventually lead to tooth decay and dental caries.

To be able to prevent the spread of tooth decay, we need to know how they occur and what the common causes of acquiring such problems are. Our major concern here is that we need to be able to identify which parts of the teeth does tooth decay happen. Generally, there are three parts where tooth decay can occur. The three common places that are being targeted by tooth decay are the smooth surface of the teeth, in between the teeth, and the in pits of the teeth. The attack is usually caused by particles that are left inside the mouth and eventually cause the growth of bacteria that eventually destroys the parts of the teeth.

Aside from a poor oral hygiene, other common factors that can cause tooth decay include genetics, lifestyle, and even a weak immune system. When talking about genetics, there are people who are gifted in the sense that they are born naturally born with healthy teeth. Unfortunately there are others who have been born with a very low tolerance against tooth decay and other dental problems. There are also people with weak immune system that are unlucky to be affected by this.

Even our lifestyle can also change our dental health because as we grow older, we succumbed to eating too much sweet foods and even smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. The result of such actions may lead to tooth decay and inflamed gums because we sometimes tend to forget that our mouth needs to be cleaned after every food intake that we have. Failure to maintain our oral health care can greatly increase the chances of acquiring tooth decay and other common dental problems.