More than 100,000 bacteria live on each tooth.
EACH. TOOTH.
And that's a normal amount. Freaky, yes. But normal.
So, what happens when we give our millions of mouth bacteria some candy? Or soda?
Welllll, the sugars contained in those products attach to our teeth. And if we fail to remove said sugars -- through regular brushing and flossing -- the bacteria will eat it, bulking up into a bacterial plaque.
Eventually the soft plaque becomes a hard biofilm condo association for other bacteria just trying to live life and hide out from your toothbrush.
Acids produced by the biofilm plaque leach minerals from your teeth's enamel causing erosion, and prompting the bacteria to communicate with each other.
WHAT?
Yes. You know. They reach out, get in touch, drop a line.
They probably send each other little bacteria group texts, like:
Hey! WHAT'S GOOD? House party on the left maxillary 1st molar! SUGAR FOR DAYZZZ.Of course, because there's one in every crowd, someone replies:
WHO DIS?And then they all laugh -- as bacteria do -- while they grow and grow and make holes in yo' damn teeth. Voilà : CAVITY! BTW, our mouths also have fungi and amoebas. Which begs the query: what does bleach taste like? ANYWAY. The good news is that if you show this Gross Science video to your anti-toothbrushing monster children, they will always and forever brush their teeth WITHOUT the daily drama of MUTINY IN THE BATHROOM. You're welcome very much. Source: Medical Daily, Gross Science
