You are at the movies and eat a sticky bar. Inevitably, some of the caramel lodges between your teeth, or in the crevices of your molars. The sticky snack feeds not only you, but bacteria in your mouth. Species include Actinomyces, Streptococcus mutans, and Lactobacillus. These microbes metabolize carbohydrates in the food, producing acid by-products that destroy tooth enamel and dentin. The bacteria also produce sticky substances that hold them in place.

If you eat candy bars but do not brush your teeth soon afterward, the actions of the acid-forming bacteria will produce dental caries. Unless a dentist cleans and fills the resulting cavity that forms where enamel is destroyed, the damage will spread to the underlying dentin. The tooth becomes very sensitive.

You can prevent dental caries in several ways:

Brush and floss teeth regularly.

See the dentist regularly.

Drink fluoridated water or receive a fluoride treatment. Fluoride is actually incorporated into the enamel's chemical structure, strengthening it.

Apply a sealant to children and adolescents' teeth that have crevices that might hold onto decay-causing bacteria. The sealant is a coating that keeps acids from eating away at tooth enamel.

One dental researcher took an unconventional approach to preventing dental caries that, understandably, was never commercialized. He invented a mouthwash consisting of mutant bacteria that would replace Streptococcus mutans but would not decay enamel. Consumer acceptance of a mutant bacterial brew was an obstacle!

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