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Can cavities form this quickly? Freaking out.

L

Lordofthedance

Junior member
Joined
May 7, 2019
Messages
14
Location
Belgium
Hi, so I went to the dentist a little over a week ago and the damage seemed to be minor. However ever since yesterday, both sides of my back teeth seem really sensitive. There also seems to be something sticking out from some of the teeth: it's weird, they don't feel like holes, but more like there's just something jutting out from the gum line, at the bottom of the teeth. I can't really see anything wrong in a mirror, but I'm no dentist, so I don't know. My biggest concern is that I have been using a prescription mouthwash for a week, which calls for me to rinse my teeth after brushing. I fear this mouthwash is the culprit, because: the toothpaste can't work if you just spit it out again, can it? The mouthwash is meant to kill bad bacteria, that are there because of my gum infection, but I'm afraid it has done more bad than good. This sucks, I don't want all of my teeth to have freaking cavities, I have always taken care of them. I can take one or two, like the dentist claimed I had just a week ago, but not five and more. I have not eaten sugar or even carbs in weeks. I'm at loss on what to try here.
 
Not sure how quickly cavities can form but I do know once you start obsessing with your teeth you notice things that you think are problems but in reality have just always been there! I started obsessing and found a sharp area on my tooth which according to my dentist has always been there! I also found a black mark on my tooth which was an 8 year old filling I’d never noticed! Hopefully yours is nothing to worry about :)
 
Hi Lordofthedance,

cavities can't form in a week, even if you would stop brushing altogether. The bacteria need time to work and tooth enamel is not too easy to get eaten away. The mindful way you go about your oral hygiene and nutrition would make it for the bacteria even harder to do damage.
Sounds like you are using a chlorhexidine mouthwash. Chlorhexidine can't tolerate any toothpaste with sodium laurel sulphate, which most of them contain. If you would prefer to spit instead of rinsing, get a paste that doesn't contain it.
If it helps, in the country I live in, everyone rinses toothpaste and people would look at you really weirdly if you advised them to only spit. I haven't heard about the toothpaste only being spit until I found this page. A trusted dental hygienist (the same who explained the interaction between chlorhexidine and sodium laurel sulhpate) reassured me that even if you rinse, there is still some of the fluorid that will stay on your teeth.

All the best wishes
 
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