Is it true that cavities can heal themselves?

Factual Questions
1

I read somewhere on the net that cavities in your teeth can sometimes heal themselves. Is this true and how does it occur?

2

I have never heard of real cases of cavities healing by themselves.

However, this belief is thrown around a lot by the quack world of alternative cures.

http://www.rawpaleodiet.org/dental-regeneration-1.html

http://www.tsc-global.com/medical.htm

I’d be very, very suspicious about these claims.

3

Either it happened to me, or my dentist was a crook. I lean toward the latter.

He claimed I had a cavity that he’d fill on my next visit. I switched dentists and, thirty years later, no one’s ever found that cavity. :dubious:

4

Yes it can happen. It is called remineralizing.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000819/bob9.asp
For some people it happens naturally, others have to have a very mineral environment in the mouth for it to happen.

I use a prescription toothpaste which is 1% flouride (OTC is 0.1% flouride). I have had cavities remineralize. “They do that?” I asked. “Yeah, sometimes” replied my dentist.

The story: Due to dental phobia, I hadn’t been to the dentist in 5 years. Unfortunately I have terrible teeth so I needed many feelings. However I was too anxious to do them all at once. We spaced the work out over a period of months. By the end, with my extremely religious prescription-stength toothbrushing, a few of the cavities were reduced or eliminated.

5

Same story, I wouldn’t go as far as crooked as overzealous.
It’s been 16 years since that cavity was found, has never been seen again.
For what it worth I brush usually once per day with Tom’s of Maine and Mouthwash & brush. I have a high calcium intake compared to normal. I also have very cavity resistant teeth. I doubt by cavity healed. I believe it was an X-Ray artifact.