(RATHER WATCH INSTEAD OF READ? AWESOME VIDEO VERSION OF THIS BLOG POST --> youtube.com/michaelthedentist)

“Really Michael? Bad luck is the number one cause of cavities?” 

Okay first of all, I didn’t say that. You guys keep putting words in my mouth :)

But yes - bad luck can lead to tooth decay, and there IS something (believe it or not) you can do about it!

Let’s say you’re out playing baseball in May, and you’re next up to bat. Hesitantly, you walk up to the plate, as on the mound is the great grand nephew of Dazzy Vance and he’s throwing pitches at a thousand miles per hour right at your face. Despite your best efforts, one slams right into the left side of your jaw as your try to turn away… and you hear a crunch. Next thing you know, you’re numb from the pain (if that makes any sense) and you spit out a small piece of something hard. You go home and your spouse and/or mother takes care of you. After a while, you feel better and you eventually forget about that little shard of enamel that escaped from your tooth. So what’s the problem? Well, while you may eventually forget about this little bout of bad luck, the bacteria in your mouth WILL NOT. Instead, they see the opportunity of a life time. When they see your tooth with a hole in the enamel wall, they’re thinking, “THE SHIELDS ARE DOWN! CHARGE!!!” With the enamel walls down, your tooth is WAY MORE vulnerable to acid attacks, and in no time, you find yourself with a cavity. Even worse, those sick little cavity jerks (i.e. the bacteria) are stealthy. They sneak into your tooth, and execute a methodical stepwise demolition. The WORST cavities even cut the wires that communicate with the core of the tooth so you don’t even feel this happening. Believe it or not, that’s a bad thing. If you don’t feel a cavity, you won’t know to fix it. Until you do feel it. And then it’s too late.

“But I don’t play baseball Mike,” You exclaim emphatically. Well it doesn’t matter, because trauma to the face can happen to you or your family anywhere and at anytime, so be prepared. I truly hope that it never does, but if you find yourself or a loved one in a facial trauma situation, here’s what you need to do: 

STEP ONE - see a doctor and make sure everything is okay- you want to make sure there’s no concussions, and that everything is in the right place. But your doctor will NOT thoroughly check your teeth. They are not trained to do that. After any facial trauma, you should…

STEP TWO - …absolutely see your dentist and make sure you’re not missing any parts and pieces.

It takes time for a cavity to form after a tooth fracture. Very often (but not always), if fixed early enough, these teeth can be repaired very simply with a filling. Should you wait too long, you may be looking at a root canal or extraction. The first thing is expensive, and the second is really sad.

But now you don’t have to be sad, because you know EXACTLY what to do! Armed with an action plan that manages the bad luck of facial trauma, you can skip the misery of a toothache or expensive root canal.

Thank you SO MUCH for reading this week’s Tooth Minute Tuesday - A two minute, tooth related, blog-post every single Tuesday :)  See you next week! (Ironically, this is the very first episode of the blog and it's going to be published on a Wednesday due to technical difficulties. "Tooth Minute Wednesday" just doesn't have as nice a ring to it, so from now on, you can expect a new blog post every TUESDAY :D )

- Michael the Dentist

Dr. Michael Wenzel is a Dentist, Videographer and Aspiring YouTuber from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Michael loves technology and practices dentistry exclusively through surgical operating microscopes. He and his wife Natalia own a wedding photography and videography company named Follow the Hope.