All you need to know about dental caries
The most common cause of addressing to the dentist is common but dangerous dental caries. We say, because cathartic dentition is one of the most widespread chronic pathological processes in the human body: it affects about 25% of children aged 6 to 11, 59% of people aged 12-19 years, 28% aged between 35-44 years and 18% of people aged over 65. Why would it be dangerous, if it is so widespread? An experienced dentist could speak for hours on the subject, but we will present a summary to everyone.
Why you should worry about serious dental caries
Dental caries are a chronic destructive process that affects the hard tissue of the tooth – an extremely widespread disease with potentially serious complications. Any dental caries left untreated can result in serious infections of the gums and bone beneath them, affecting their tooth supporting role. These infections can become acute and evolve into a dental abscess (accumulation of pus which causes intense pain, swelling of the affected area, fever, and general malaise). The dental abscess can not be treated either by medication or by natural methods – the tooth usually can not be recovered, the only solution being surgical dental surgery – extraction. And a tooth in the minus entails a series of problems of diction, mastication and aesthetics. Many patients ignore the cavities until they lose teeth and the need for a dental implant (an effective but costly solution and sometimes more complicated than a simple odontological treatment). Even when the entire tooth is not lost, the nerves inside the teeth are frequently affected and there is a need for endodontic treatment. The tooth that has undergone an intervention of this type retains its outer sheath, but it is devitalized anyway, and this means it is more prone to fracture. Another reason for concern in the case of complicated caries is the dissemination (scattering, migration) of the infection in the body. The weakened immunity, combined with a complicated cavity, may be enough for digestive infections, heart disease, abscesses, etc. It’s stupid to get such serious complications because of such a widespread and known affection. And yet, a lot of myths stop the treatment of dental caries at the right time. So what is that moment?
Treatment of dental caries
If you are still wondering what problems cause the cavities, or if it is possible to treat caries at home, you are likely to lose the right time to treat dental caries simply and quickly. For any type of dental caries with dental defects, there is no natural treatment. Antibacterial herbal teas are good for dental caries but will not change the situation if dental defects appear (brown or black spots, visible hole, accompanied by sensitivity or even dental pain). Symptoms of dental caries that are just beginning to develop are not obvious. Gradually, it reaches the dentine, causing dental sensitivity (disturbing or deafening pain in contact with drinks, and sweet, hot or acid foods). The less affected dentin layer decreases, the greater the painful reaction to the factors mentioned. At this time, visiting a dentist is an emergency – dental caries require immediate treatment. The good news is that you can quickly treat an incipient dental caries. Odontological treatments for minor defects are quick, uncomfortable and, most importantly, cheap. Even if you do not see your dental caries alone due to location and small size, a preventative visit to the dentist will not leave you a chance – the doctor will immediately solve the problem so you can avoid the pain and expense of complicated caries (as a price minor dental obturation not does it compare with canal obturation).
Odontological treatment consists of removing affected tissue, eliminating infection and applying dental fillings to restore both the appearance and functionality of the tooth.
Can we prevent caries?
Causes of dental caries are not concretely defined. Most likely, there is a different set of predisposing factors in each case – they are known. Risk factors for the development of dental caries can be influenced (controllable) or non-infective. Controllable risk factors:
-Dental hygiene The dental plaque that favors cavities develops due to insufficient or incorrect use of common dental hygiene objects such as toothbrush, mouthwash, dental floss, or procedures like the mouthpiece.
– Ignoring preventive visits to the dentist Plaque and tartar are also removed by the dentist. The doctor removes plaque and tartar. Twice a year visits to the dentist’s office and professional teeth cleaning prevents the appearance of dental caries or detects them in their incipient stages.
– Lack of fluoride Fluoride increases the resistance of the tooth to the attack of acids produced by bacteria in the mouth. The effect of the fluoride toothpaste still poses a controversial question, and fluoride supplements must be carefully controlled by a doctor, but fluoride can always be used – local application does not lead to excessive accumulation and only has positive effects on dental health .
– Smoking, alcohol All types of smoking (active, passive, chewing tobacco) as well as alcohol consumption are a known factor that promotes the appearance of dental caries.
Unfavorable risk factors:
– Diseases that do not produce enough saliva – xerostomia (dry mouth), insipid diabetes or Sjogren’s syndrome. Saliva removes food and sugars, protecting teeth. Certain medicines temporarily produce this condition (medication for cold, hypertension or even depression).
– Age (both tender and advanced). Minerals in forming teeth are not stable and can be removed more easily from acids. The elderly suffer from natural xerostomy and gingival retractions (increased risk of tooth decay).
– Respiratory diseases, such as allergic rhinitis, nasal polyps, cause oral respiration (the saliva dries faster, does not effectively protect teeth).
– Certain types of bacteria in the mouth are responsible for carying (dental hygiene does not definitively kill bacteria, but only slows down their development).
– Medicines containing sugar, increased consumption of sugary foods.
Risk factors for children:
– The habit of sleeping babies with a bottle of juice, milk, milk powder in the mouth. Sugar that is retained in the oral cavity for a long time and especially without being efficiently cleansed by saliva causes specific caries.
– Insufficient family knowledge about dental hygiene at children. Every age has its approach to the problem, and parents have a duty to effectively inform themselves if they want a healthy future for the little ones.
– Sharing utensils, moistening the bottle with a parent’s saliva. Careers are being transmitted. Newborns do not have bacteria that cause caries at the outset, but they can pass into their oral cavity from their parents.
– Family smokers. Children’s chance to develop caries increases with passive smoking. For effective prevention of dental caries, a special role has also the diet, which has to be poorer in products containing many carbohydrates. There is also a range of carioprotective foods:
- Phosphates – are naturally found in unrefined cereal flour. Sometimes they are added to foods that are prepared industrially (in the form of sodium phosphate or calcium phosphosaccharide) – they are also used in special chewing gums (without sugar, xylitol).
- Healthy fats (from peanuts, nuts, seeds, cold pressed oils) have carioprotective effects through cariesostatic mechanisms.
- Oligoelements reduce the cariogenicity of carbohydrates by replacing the nutrient substrate of the bacteria that form the carnivorous medium.
More advice and full information on your current teeth can be obtained for free consultation of charge – you are expected at the Imperial Dent Dental Clinic.
