Dental caries, also known as tooth decay or  cavities – is a process when bacteria damage the hard tissue of the tooth (enamel, dentin, cementum). The most known bacteria which causes caries is Streptococcus mutans .

Plaque on teeth adsorbs bacteria which then starts to  produce acid that first damages enamel, and then dentin and cementum.

This process starts under a few conditions:

• time: 24 hours or more after last brushing your teeth;
• sugar (especially sticky, such as cookies). To eat sugar all the time is not healthy because bacteria use sugar to produce an acid;
• a low level in the PH –environment  ( it goes down after each meal and also after 12 hours, that’s why it is recommended to brush teeth twice a day);
• presence of special bacteria (Streptococcus mutans)- 98% percent of the population has it.

The most common places of caries location are:

• the chewing surface of teeth;
• the surface between the teeth;
• the surface around the gum line.

Frequent snacking also increases the risk of caries. If you want to avoid caries, reduce the number of snacks between meals.

Visiting your dentist 1 or 2 times per  year can prevent caries and large  dental expenses, because it is less painfull and cheaper to treat smaller cavities than larger ones.

You can see here a small educational video-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oIlv59bTL4