# From perfect teeth to bad cavities, no brushing - how long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526 "2014-09-15T02:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/1 "2014-09-15T02:25:44Z")
Let’s say someone had a set of perfect teeth. Then just stopped brushing or flossing altogether. Diet, everything else remains the same. How long til cavities that cause major pain? 30 days? 60? 90? ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/2 "2014-09-15T02:46:20Z")
As somebody who did something like that (mostly due to depression) the answer in my case was more like 5 years. And I was told as a kid after some testing that I had the sort of genes that made me extra vulnerable for cavities, so I imagine with better genes the answer could be 10+ years. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/3 "2014-09-15T03:31:09Z")
I brushed my teeth maybe a dozen times from the ages of 12 to 15, and I have not ever had a cavity. So, I agree with Arrogance that this is a question of years and not days or months. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/4 "2014-09-15T04:21:07Z")
I’ve never flossed in my life, and I went damn almost two decades between dentists visits and my diet was deplorable. I usually did try to brush every morning though. Teeth were fine and dandy until about age thirty when they totally went to hell, no changes in diet or routine, just suddenly cavities galore with a wisdom tooth even breaking and leaving a tooth remnants below the gumline I need to get pulled. I think it has more to do with cumulative damage and genetics, my father had full dentures by age 50. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/5 "2014-09-15T06:09:46Z")
Judging by my own experience, I’d guess longer than 30 days. I usually give myself a little vacation from flossing for a couple weeks before my next dental cleaning, and it doesn’t seem to have ruined my teeth. It just gives the hygienist a bit more to work on during the cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/6 "2014-09-15T06:24:15Z")
It is going to depend on a lot of factors, such as what you are eating, how strong and thick your tooth enamel is naturally, and probably other things that are not occurring to me at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/7 "2014-09-15T12:57:04Z")
dentist here, lots of variables. Biggest is amount of sugar/refined carbohydrates consumed as well as type and frequency. Eating a candy bar in a few minutes is nowhere near as bad as sucking on hard candy all day long. Tooth anatomy also makes a difference. Some peoples teeth have much deeper pits and groove for things to get stuck in. Younger teeth have relatively larger pulps so takes less time for the decay to reach it. Also everyone is different. Amount of saliva flow make a big difference, folks with dry mouth especially due to age or medications usually have more problems. And of course the amount of tarter build up greatly influences periodontal problems. As a real broad generalization most people it would be more like a couple to a few years from dental health to pain. Cavities would be there much sooner but take a while to get large. Also periodontal problems don’t usually cause pain until the tooth is so mobile as to be non savable. ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/8 "2014-09-15T15:00:56Z")
Cavities are caused by bacteria. Once they set up shop they can spread faster, but it takes a while to get a good foodhold. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-perfect-teeth-to-bad-cavities-no-brushing-how-long/698526/9 "2014-09-16T17:02:14Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > L30 days? 60? 90? Anywhere between a couple of years and more than a lifetime, depending on how lucky you are with your genes, the kind of water you grew up with, and what you eat/drink. I doubt you would get painful cavities in 2-3 months unless your new regime included using battery acid as mouthwash.