INTRODUCTION TO 'PREVENTION'

Starting in the early 1600's until around 1800, London authorities published weekly lists of deaths, called "Bills of Mortality," alerting the public to developing plagues. But, one of the most common and consistently reported causes of death had nothing to do with plagues. It was instead, dental infection and complications from tooth extraction.

Thankfully, dental infection and dental surgery are no longer among the common causes of death and, in certain populations, dental disease is decreasing. Nevertheless, dental disease and tooth decay remain serious concerns through out the world and can still lead to many serious complications.

Fifty-two percent of children in the US, between the ages of six and eight have experienced tooth decay. By age seventeen, eighty percent have had at least one cavity. Two thirds of adults, ages 35 to 44, have lost at least one permanent tooth to decay and one-fourth of adults, ages 65 to 74, have lost most or all of their natural teeth.

As life expectancy in the United States has increased to an average of 75-80 years, teeth are now required to provide us more extended service than ever before. Sound understanding of the precise chemistry involved in dental disease is essential in prevention and in the achievement of a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums...