# Is it true that cavities can heal themselves?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 28, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580 "2005-07-28T13:53:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580/1 "2005-07-28T13:53:39Z")

</div>

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

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580/2 "2005-07-28T14:36:05Z")

</div>

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.rawpaleodiet.org/dental-regeneration-1.html)

[http://www.tsc-global.com/medical.htm](http://www.tsc-global.com/medical.htm)

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

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580/3 "2005-07-28T15:13:24Z")

</div>

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:

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580/4 "2005-07-28T15:24:15Z")

</div>

Yes it can happen. It is called remineralizing.  
[http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000819/bob9.asp](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.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-cavities-can-heal-themselves/314580/5 "2005-07-28T15:28:57Z")

</div>

> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> 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:

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.