Cavity Risk Self-Assessment
Cavities aren't just about brushing and sugar. This self-check walks through everything that shapes your risk, including saliva, breathing, hormones, nutrition, medications, and acid exposure, so you can see which factors apply to you. Answer honestly; there are no wrong answers, and nothing here is your fault. This assessment is for personal use only and will help you know where to focus your energy on your journey to becoming cavity free.
Cavity history & pattern
Where and how often you've had decay tells us whether the cause is likely local or whole-body.
1Do you get your teeth cleaned at least every 6 months?
2Are you told you have a new cavity nearly every time you go?
3How long since your last cavity?
4How many cavities in the last 3 years?
5Have cavities been in different areas of the mouth, or localized to one spot?
6When you get cavities, are they on the back teeth or the front teeth?
7How many dental crowns or onlays have you had?
8How many root canal treatments have you had?
9Have you had rapid or unexpected cavities even when brushing, flossing, and eating a healthy diet?
Diet, sugar & dietary acid
Cavities are driven by acid, and how often you eat or drink matters as much as what you eat — each exposure resets the clock on your mouth's repair window.
10On a typical day, how many separate times do you eat or drink anything other than plain water?Count every snack, coffee with milk/sugar, and sip of a sweet or sour drink as one. Example: three meals, two snacks, plus a coffee in the mid-morning and a soda in the afternoon = 7 times per day.
11Do you sip on anything other than water throughout the day (coffee, tea, soda, juice, sports/electrolyte drinks)?
12Do you eat or drink anything other than water after brushing at night?
13How often do you snack on fermentable carbs between meals (crackers, chips, dried fruit, granola, sweets)?
14Do you regularly drink acidic beverages (soda, sparkling or flavored water, citrus drinks, energy drinks, kombucha, wine)?
15Do you suck on citrus, sour candies, vitamin C tablets, or other acidic lozenges?
16What is your main drinking water?Many purified bottled waters are stripped of minerals and can be surprisingly acidic; spring and mineral waters are usually fine.
17How often do you drink sports drinks, electrolyte mixes, or hydration powders (Gatorade, Liquid IV, LMNT, Normalyte, Pedialyte, etc.)?Most of these are acidic or sweetened, so drinking them often means your teeth are getting hit with acid throughout the day, not just at meals.
Internal acid
Acid that reaches your teeth from inside the body — reflux, vomiting, and smoking — can be just as damaging as anything you eat.
18Do you struggle with acid reflux?
Risk factor19Have you been diagnosed with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)?
Risk factor20Do you ever wake with a sour or bitter taste, a hoarse voice, or a sore throat?These can signal silent reflux even without obvious heartburn.
Risk factor21Are you, or have you been, pregnant in the last 3 years?
Risk factor22If pregnant recently or now — did you have morning sickness or vomiting?
Risk factor23Do you have, or have you had, an eating disorder (bulimia, anorexia, etc.)?
Risk factor24Are you a current or former smoker or vaper?
Risk factorBiofilm & plaque
The bacterial film on your teeth is what actually produces the acid. These questions gauge how much of it builds up and how fast.
25Do your teeth feel fuzzy by the end of the day?
26Do you notice plaque building up between meals?
Risk factor27Do you get a lot of tartar buildup between cleanings?
Risk factor28Do you struggle with bad breath?
Risk factor29Do your gums bleed when you brush or floss?Bleeding points to inflammation, which can shift the bacterial balance.
Risk factor30Is there a family history of frequent cavities?This often reflects shared diet and bacteria, not just inherited genes.
Risk factorSaliva — flow & quality
Saliva is your mouth's built-in repair system. When it runs low or thick, it can't neutralize acid or rebuild enamel — so this section carries a lot of weight.
31Does your mouth often feel dry during the day or night?
Risk factor32Does your saliva feel ropy, thick, or stringy?Thick saliva often means it's below the water level needed to protect teeth.
Risk factor33Do you have trouble swallowing food, or need to drink a lot of water to swallow?
Risk factor34Do you wear clear aligners, a retainer, or a night guard during the day or night?Trays keep saliva off the teeth and can trap acid against them.
Risk factor35Do you drink more than 200 mg of caffeine per day?Roughly two cups of coffee.
Risk factor36Do you drink alcohol regularly?
Risk factor37How much water do you drink per day?
38When you drink electrolyte or hydration drinks, how do you usually drink them?Sipping these slowly keeps your mouth constantly bathed in minerals that crowd out the calcium your saliva needs to protect your teeth.
39Do you use a sensitivity toothpaste (such as Sensodyne)?This type of toothpaste needs calcium in your saliva to work, so if it's stopped helping, that's often a sign your saliva's calcium has dropped.
40Do you experience any of the following? Select all that apply — stress and mood strongly affect saliva.
Systemic conditions & blood sugar
Saliva is made from blood, so whole-body conditions show up in the mouth. High blood sugar in particular can feed cavity bacteria directly, even without dietary sugar.
41Have you been diagnosed with diabetes or insulin resistance?
42Most recent A1c, if you know it:
43Do you have any of the following? Select all that apply.
Nutrition & absorption
The minerals that rebuild enamel come from what you absorb, not just what you eat. Deficiencies and gut issues can quietly raise risk.
44Have you been diagnosed with any deficiency or anemia? Select all that apply. Low levels of these minerals can throw off the calcium balance your saliva needs to protect your teeth.
45If you take an iron supplement, what form is it?A pill dissolves in your stomach, but a chewable or sublingual iron tablet dissolves right in your mouth, where it can interfere with your teeth directly.
46Do you have a malabsorption condition or have you had GI surgery (celiac, Crohn's / IBD, gastric bypass or bariatric surgery, bowel resection)?
Risk factor47Do you follow a restrictive or mostly-liquid diet (very low calorie, elimination, or primarily shakes)?
Risk factor48Your diet is mostly:
Hormones
Estrogen and progesterone directly regulate salivary glands, which is why pregnancy, the menstrual cycle, and menopause all change cavity risk.
49Which best describes you right now?
50Do you use hormonal contraception or hormone replacement therapy (HRT)?
Risk factor51Do you notice mouth dryness or sensitivity that tracks with your menstrual cycle?
Risk factorMedications & supplements
Many common medications dry the mouth, and some supplements can lock up the minerals teeth need. Most people don't realize their product is the culprit.
52Do you take any of these? Select all that apply — these commonly reduce saliva.
53Have you taken a GLP-1 medication (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, etc.) or had bariatric surgery in the last 2 years?
Risk factor54Do you regularly take antacids or acid-reducing medications (omeprazole/Prilosec, Pepcid, Tums, etc.)?Long-term use of these can drain the calcium from your saliva and disrupt your body's ability to absorb the minerals your teeth need to naturally repair and stay strong.
55Do you take any of these supplements? Select all that apply.
56List any prescription or over-the-counter medications and supplements you take regularly:Optional — this stays on your device and only appears on your own PDF.
Oral care products & routine
Sometimes the product or the timing is the problem. Take stock of exactly what you're using and when.
57What oral care products do you currently use? Toothpaste, mouthwash, and anything else — brand names help.
58Do any of your oral care products (toothpaste, mouthwash, whitening products) contain any of the following?Some common "clean" or "natural" ingredients actually interfere with the saliva's ability to protect your teeth. Check your labels; select all that apply.
59Do you brush before bed every night?Saliva flow drops by half overnight, so the bedtime brush matters most.
60Do you rinse with water right after brushing?This can wash away the protective ingredients before they work.
61Do you use teeth whitening products (strips, trays, whitening toothpaste, or professional whitening)?Whitening ingredients can dry out your mouth and disrupt the calcium balance in your saliva.
62Do you floss daily?Flossing removes the bacteria hiding between your teeth that brushing alone can't reach.
63What do you typically use to clean between your teeth?Not scored — just helpful context for you. Select all that apply.
Airway & breathing
Mouth breathing dries the teeth — especially at night, when protection is already at its lowest.
64Have you been diagnosed with sleep apnea, or do you use a CPAP/BiPAP machine?CPAP machines can cause air to leak through your mouth overnight, drying out the saliva that protects your teeth while you sleep.
65Do you struggle to breathe through your nose?
Risk factor66Do you often feel congested or have sinus pressure?
Risk factor67Have you been told that you snore?
Risk factor68Do you grind your teeth at night?
Risk factor69Have you been told you have enlarged tonsils?
Risk factorRecent changes
Big shifts in life or health often explain a sudden change in cavity risk.
70Has anything major changed in the last year — illness, surgery, a new diagnosis, a big weight change, a loss, or major stress?
Risk factorYour cavity risk snapshot
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We cover each of these risk factors in depth inside Cavity Free Collective. If your score is higher than you hoped, don't be hard on yourself: this is just the starting point, and we'll work on bringing it down together.
This self-assessment is for education only and is not a dental or medical exam, diagnosis, or treatment advice. Completing it does not create a doctor–patient relationship with Dr. Craig Clayton. The scoring bands are an educational heuristic, not a validated clinical index, and some emphases reflect emerging evidence in saliva-first, root-cause cariology rather than settled consensus. Your answers are never transmitted or stored — everything happens in your browser, and refreshing the page clears the form. Please share your results with your own dentist.