You may have heard that tooth decay is caused by bacteria producing lactic acid. Let's consider that a little more deeply.

criteria for decay

To effectively cause cavities, bacteria must meet 4 criteria:

Some of those can be done by different bacteria, but cavities are made most effectively when a single species can do all of them.

many species of bacteria exist

Converting glucose to lactic acid is one of the (biologically) easiest ways to get energy (ATP) from it. As such, lactic acid bacteria are one of the most common types, and as you may know, there are a lot of bacteria species [...]

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Outline:

(00:13) criteria for decay

(00:49) many species of bacteria exist

(01:25) Streptococcus mutans

(02:17) looking under the lamppost

(03:30) some other bacteria

(04:14) let them fight

(05:02) treatments

(05:08) chemicals

(05:11) hydrogen peroxide

(05:44) chlorhexidine

(06:17) anti-biofilm drugs

(06:44) enzymes

(07:58) dentin substitutes

(08:36) probiotics

(10:32) brush your teeth

(11:32) eat less sucrose?

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.