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Why do bacteria in dental plaque produce acids that damage teeth?

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Dentistry — dentistry The practice of dentistry involves preventing, diagnosing, and treating oral disease, as well as correcting deformities of the jaws, teeth, and oral cavity.

Bacteria in dental plaque—a sticky mass of microorganisms and polymers—produce acids as a byproduct of metabolizing ingested sugars and other fermentable carbohydrates.12

This process is not an intentional attack on the tooth; rather, it is the natural result of bacterial metabolism. When bacteria, such as Streptococcus mutans, break down these dietary sugars, they generate acidic metabolites like lactic acid and acetic acid. Because plaque shields these bacteria from saliva—which would otherwise help neutralize the environment—the acids remain concentrated against the tooth surface, where they dissolve and eat away the enamel. This demineralization process is the primary cause of caries, or tooth decay.12