What is the course of an acid attack?
Modern science tells us that caries is the result of a combined effect of microorganisms and sugar. Certain bacteria, the worst being streptococcus mutans, adsorb on the surface of the teeth owing to that lipoteichoic acid and other substances that occur in cell wall of those bacteria. Every bite of food containing ordinary sugar, i.e. sucrose, gives the bacteria energy, allowing them to multiply and start producing acids by a metabolic process. The result is the infamous “acid attack”. When the pH of this mass of bacteria, or plaque, falls below pH 5,5, calcium and phosphate salts start dissolving from the surface of the enamel. Cavities begin to form, though only very slowly at first. After eating sugar it takes over half an hour before the pH of plaque is restored to the normal level of around 7. If sugar is eaten several times a day, salts are dissolved off the enamel more and more deeply and the enamel becomes porous.
