Strategies to Boost Remineralization

By Martha McComas, RDH, MS

Dental caries is a multifactorial disease where the enamel layer of the tooth becomes demineralized. If the deminerali­zation process is not interrupted and reversed, a carious lesion forms, leading to the exposure of less mineralized and permeable dentin.^1,2 It is well established that dental caries disease is a transmissible, infectious, and preventable oral infection.^3–5 Dental caries remains the most prevalent chronic disease among children in the United States. Nineteen percent of Americans ages 2 to 6, and 22.6% of Americans ages 6 to 19 have untreated dental caries.⁶ Globally, untreated dental caries is the tenth most prevalent chronic infection and it affects approximately 9% of the world’s population with deciduous teeth and 35% of those with permanent dentition.⁷ The FDI Dental World Federation defines oral health as, “the ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow, and convey a range of emotions through facial expressions with confidence and without pain, discomfort, and disease of the craniofacial complex.”⁸ If left untreated, dental caries can significantly impact quality of life.^1,9 

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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