Tooth Decay Lab Report

What is Decay?

What Substances Speed up This Process?

Introduction:

This project looks at investigating decay, and the rate of decay on teeth using different sugary substances to speed this process up. Obtaining human teeth were not as available as cat and dog teeth for this project, so cat and dog teeth, removed by a veterinarian during a routine dental procedure, will be used.

Aim:

To investigate the rate of tooth decay of various sugary substances.

Hypothesis:

That teeth will rot faster in Coke than milk or water. That there will be a slight difference between milk and water substances on decay levels.

Experiment Set-up

1. .Brush all teeth so they all start at the same hygienic stage

2.Weigh all teeth prior to introducing to the

substance as a starting point, and again every 3 days, using kitchen scales
3.Experiment will run for a maximum 21 days
4.Keep all teeth in same substance throughout the 21 days, to keep substances constant.

5.When removing teeth every 3 days for weighing, this will be limited to at least 2 minutes to reduce the risk of any chemical reactions from the air when the lid is opened

6.All experimental bottles will be kept in the fridge, to keep temperature constant and not allow the milk to perish, and go all yuck

Insert picture of labelled bottles, substances in bottles eg coke bottle or can, milk container etc, weigh equipment and teeth for evidence of project

Background information:

How much sugar is in Water, Milk and Coke?

Substance Tested

Sugar content (grams per 100 ml served)

Saturated Fat Content (% per 100 ml served)

Tap Water

0

0

Blue Top Milk (Dairy Dale)

5

1

Coke (Coca-cola) Without Caffeine

11

0

What tooth structures are involved in tooth decay?

The destruction of tooth structure associated with decay can lead to the development of holes in the teeth, more commonly referred to as

cavities.

What does periodontal mean?
Peri (around) dontal (tooth) is the tissue that holds the teeth into their bony sockets. Teeth are held in these sockets by ligaments and cementum (a thin layer of bony material that fixes teeth to the jaw). When dental disease affects the tooth ligaments it will start to loosen and eventually fall out, this is what decay can do as well, if it is very serious that is.

Is their another disease that can cause this?
Well there is something called Gingivitis which is the inflammation of the gums. Gingivitis is caused by bacteria, mostly the bacteria that is in between the tooth and gum, this area is called the Gingival pocket. With gingivitis, the gum edge would start to redden and swell, so it would no longer be flat and snug against the tooth, bacteria nestles into this space creating plaque and will soon eventual the happening of decay.

What does enamel do?
Enamel helps protect your teeth from daily use such as chewing, biting, crunching, and grinding, although enamel is a hard protector of teeth it can also chip and crack. Enamel also insulates the teeth from painful chemicals such as: bad breath which can cause decay and lollies which can cause cavities and decay. But sometimes enamel can’t always protect itself and it starts to fade away, but only a little bit will fade not all.

Stages of tooth decay:
Cats and dogs move through various stages of tooth decay which can involve some very painful experiences.The stage of absorption is generally determined using a probe, under general anaesthetic.

Stage 1 only indicates a small minor condition which can be fixed, stage 2 is the stage that starts decay. But when they reach stage 3 and this you will notice they start to have major tissue loss and that often exposes the tooth root. Once stage 4 is reached both the root and the crown of the tooth will be decayed, this is very painful for dogs and cats. Stage 5 on the other hand is even worst as only minimal amount of tissue is left and the left of the decayed teeth will now be covered by the gums. As cats and dogs go through these stages they will start bleeding from their mouths and getting

ulcers.

How does decay work?
Well there is something called plaque that builds up every time you eat and in Cats and Dogs teeth they will have heaps of this plaque, this bacteria is because of the food that is left in their mouth and on their teeth. Decay starts to join up by the food that is inside the mouth and the food that comes into the mouth, it gets stuck to the teeth but only to get licked off a few minutes later. Even after this continuous licking, food may still be on the teeth, this mostly happens in the little gaps that spaces out your teeth, this here is one of those hard places to get food out from, as dogs and cats can’t really get everything they just tend to leave it. After several times of eating and licking this would have builded up all around the gum and tooth. The plaque bacteria causes decay and ulcers in the animal's mouth.

What is decay?
Decay is a similar meaning to the word ‘Rot’, decay decomposes through the action of bacteria and fungi in this situation it’s because of the bacteria left on the Dogs or Cats teeth that has made it turn that yucky brown colour which also appears on humans teeth, as some of us may have already noticed.Tooth decay is a degenerative oral health condition that is because of tooth enamel (enamel is the hard glossy substance that covers the crown of the tooth).

What role does sugar play when talking about decay?
Foods and drinks that are high in sugars are more prone to form the acid that attacks the tooth enamel resulting in decay.

Does size matter to this experiment? Size wise of the teeth.
Hopefully not but there may be a slight chance to the cat's teeth being too small to see all of the decay that is around it.

Is there a difference between cat teeth, dog teeth and human teeth?
Cats, Dogs and Humans all have two sets of teeth. Cats only have their molars once during the age of 5 and 6 months. Dogs have 42 teeth, cats have 30 and humans have 32, this is of adults stage.

Does air make a difference or chemical reaction to the teeth while they are in the drinks?

What is Tartar?
Tartar is a form of hardened dental plaque. It is caused by

How do dogs react to decay?

How do cats react to decay?

What is Caries?

Can all ages of cats and dogs get decay?

What are Neck Lesion?
Feline Tooth resorption also as TR is a serious syndrome