Dental Cavity
Cavities developed due to an increase in the bacteria development on the teeth. Cavities further cause decay in the teeth which makes the tooth painful at some point later. Small food particles and sugar are mainly responsible for the cavity development of teeth.
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Table of content
- What are Dental Cavities?
- How Does a Cavity form on your teeth?
- What are the reasons for tooth decay?
- How do You Know You Have a Cavity?
- Do Dental Cavities Affect Your Health?
- How are Dental Cavities Treated?
- Can you Prevent Dental Cavities?
- Who is at risk for tooth decay?
- How does a dentist go through the dental checkup and find cavities?
Dental Cavities are formed when tooth enamel gets decayed due to the bacteria on the teeth. The best way to prevent decay from becoming larger problems and forming bigger cavities is by filling cracks and crevices on the teeth’ surface with a dental sealant.
The dentist will use the dental sealant to fill in minor pits and crevices on the tooth surface which can house bacteria that may cause further decay.
What are Dental Cavities?
“If you don’t brush your teeth, you will develop cavities”– is something we have heard ever since we were kids. What are dental cavities? In simple words, cavities are decayed parts of your teeth that are formed due to bacteria and the acids they produce. They appear as brownish-black or black specks on your teeth and food lodgement in these cavities is a common problem.
How Does a Cavity form on your teeth?
How do the tiny bacteria in your mouth dissolve the hardest substance in your body and create cavities? How does a cavity form on your teeth? The main reason for cavity formation is poor oral hygiene. When we don’t brush and floss properly, softened food remains in contact with the teeth.
Bacteria in the mouth use these remains as a source of their food and produce acids that have the potential to dissolve enamel and cause cavities. These cavities now become areas where food keeps getting lodged very often.
When not stopped at this stage, the bacteria continue to go deeper into the tooth structure, affecting the dentine and eventually reaching the tooth pulp. Eventually, these cavity-causing bacteria can destroy an entire tooth, or many teeth at once.
What are the reasons for tooth decay?
There are several reasons behind tooth decay.
Here are some reasons for tooth decay:
- Improper brushing & flossing
Brushing and flossing are considered the fundamental dental hygienic habit. It removes and cleans the microfood particles stuck in the teeth. It also removes the plaque layer from the teeth’ surface. This avoids further prevents tooth decay. - Eating or drinking sweet food
Sweet foods are mainly responsible for bacteria development in teeth. These bacteria start developing in large quantities on teeth which further causes tooth decay. - Inappropriate mouth rinsing
The food we eat accumulates in the smaller crevices of the teeth. These slowly start decaying the teeth. Proper mouth rinsing can remove most of the smaller food particles from the teeth. It also removes the plaque development on the teeth that causes tooth decay later. - Occasional oral health examination
An occasional oral check after six months is essential. This helps to detect tiny decay that might not be easily visible. It also helps to find other oral health problems like gum disease.
These are some reasons for tooth decay. Early care can help tremendously to prevent tooth decay.
How do You Know You Have a Cavity?
Pain of course, isn’t it? Well, while pain is a sign of dental cavities, it is usually a symptom in the advanced stage of dental cavities when it has reached the dentine or the pulp.
Here are some signs and symptoms of cavities, even during their early stages:
- Sensitivity to hot or cold foods
- A ditch or cavitation in the tooth
- Tooth pain when food gets lodged in this cavitation
- Black-brown stain or spot on your teeth
The symptoms of dental cavities depend upon how deep your cavity is. Dental cavities in the enamel layer have the least sensitivity and no pain associated. However, when the dental cavity reaches the pulp and exposes it, it can cause excruciating pain that most of us associate with dental pain.
Causes of Dental Cavities
The main cause of dental cavities is poor oral hygiene and acid-producing bacteria. But, dental cavities can be caused by other reasons as well such as:
- Eating sugar-laden foods
- Dry mouth conditions where the individual produces less saliva (saliva helps to wash away food debris and keeps tooth surfaces clean)
- Individuals with sticky saliva (sticky saliva allows food and bacteria to remain on the teeth as compared to watery saliva)
- Hereditary structure of the teeth surfaces that have deep, narrow grooves and fissures that are ideal for food lodgement and cavity-causing bacteria
Do Dental Cavities Affect Your Health?
Dental cavities can wreak havoc in your mouth but do dental cavities affect your health overall? Yes, dental cavities can affect an individual’s overall health. When you have a toothache or you are unable to chew your food properly due to cavities in your teeth, you aren’t getting the right amount of nutrition into your system.
Many individuals who have excessive dental cavities usually end up malnourished as they are not able to eat a balanced diet with all the essential nutrients but only stick to soft foods that are easy to chew or swallow directly.
Complications from tooth cavities
A tooth cavity can cause an assortment of difficulties if it’s left untreated. These include:
- continuous tooth pain
- a tooth ulcer, which can become contaminated and trigger hazardous difficulties, similar to a disease that enters the circulatory system or sepsis
- the improvement of discharge around the contaminated tooth
- an expanded hazard for breaking or chipping a tooth
- trouble eating food
You may harm your tooth that can’t be turned around if you put off observing a dental specialist. Now, the best way to fix the pit is for your dental specialist to carry it with tooth cavity treatment and supplant it with an embed or scaffold.
Cavity treatment Diagnosis
Your dental specialist can as a rule identify cavity rot by:
- Getting some information about tooth torment and affectability
- Inspecting your mouth and teeth
- Examining your teeth with dental instruments to check for delicate regions
- Taking a gander at dental X-rays, which can show the degree of cavities and rot
Your dental specialist will likewise have the option to disclose cavity treatment to you which of the three kinds of cavities you have – smooth surface, pit, gap, or root.
How are Dental Cavities Treated?
Dental cavities need to be attended to as soon as they occur to prevent them from spreading deeper into the particular tooth or to other teeth in the mouth. Another important thing one must remember is that dental cavities need to be treated by a qualified dentist and no home remedies will work.
The most basic early stage of dental cavity treatment is tooth filling. In this process, the dentist removes all the decayed portion of the tooth or teeth and cleans it. He/she then places a tooth-filling material to restore the strength, structure, function, and aesthetics of the tooth or teeth.
The most commonly used dental filling materials today are tooth-colored filling materials called composites. Earlier, gold and silver-based filling materials were used.
However, when the dental cavity reaches deeper into the tooth structure to the pulp, a filling is not enough to salvage the tooth. At this advanced stage, Another cavity treatment takes place which requires a root canal treatment in which the tooth’s pulp tissue containing nerves and blood vessels is removed, and the canals in the root are cleaned, disinfected, and sealed.
The decayed portion of the tooth is removed and the tooth is supported by a crown. Our Sabka Dentist clinics perform many Cavity treatments i.e. dental fillings and root canal treatments successfully every day.
Can you Prevent Dental Cavities?
Can we prevent dental cavities from occurring? Well, yes we can! Here are some tips and oral hygiene habits that you can follow to prevent dental cavities altogether:
- Maintain excellent oral hygiene: Regular brushing and flossing are the basic oral hygiene habits to keep. This can remove tiny food particles and clean the plaque layer. Brushing twice a day or after every meal (whenever possible), flossing between your teeth, and rinsing your mouth after eating anything
- Regular dental visits: Everyone needs to visit their dentist twice a year (once every six months) for a routine dental checkup. This is essential as your dentist can keep track of your oral hygiene and spot any early signs of dental cavities and nip it in the bud
- Treat dental decay early: The earlier the dental decay is diagnosed and treated, the better
- Avoid excessive consumption of sugary foods and those high in carbohydrates as these sugars are bacteria’s favourite food!
- Maintain a proper diet: Diet affects dental health to some extent. Avoid eating sweet food items constantly, which is responsible for extensive plaque development in teeth. Eating green vegetables and citrus fruits also helps to avoid tooth decay.
- Oil pulling: Oil pulling helps to get rid of the hardened plaque layer on teeth. This helps in avoiding later tooth decay problems by keeping teeth clean.
If you suffer from dental cavities and wish to get them treated, visit our Sabka Dentist clinic today! Our dentists are experts in preventing dental cavities by providing cavity treatment and will be happy to answer any queries you may have about your teeth problems!
Who is at risk for tooth decay?
The main risk factors for tooth decay are not taking care of your teeth and having too many sugary or on the other hand dull nourishments and beverages.
- A few people have a higher danger of tooth rot, including individuals who
- Need more spit, as a result of prescriptions, certain maladies, or some malignant growth medicines
- Try not to get enough fluoride
- Are exceptionally youthful. Infants and little children who drink from bottles are in danger, particularly if they are given squeeze or get bottles at sleep time. This opens their teeth to sugars for significant periods.
- Are more seasoned. Numerous more established grown-ups have retreating gums and more wear on their teeth. These raise the danger of rot on the uncovered root surfaces of their teeth.
- It can be solved by consulting a dentist for tooth decay treatment.
How does a dentist go through the dental checkup and find cavities?
Your dental specialist discovers holes during a normal dental test. He’ll test your teeth, searching for weaknesses, or use X-beams to check between your teeth.
If you’ve had depression for some time, you may get a toothache, particularly after you eat or drink something sweet, hot, or cold. Here and there you can see pits or gaps in your teeth.
If you want to prevent tooth decay, then visit the Sabka dentist. They have experts who can guide you to proper treatment. Sabka dentist provides an effective tooth decay treatment. You can achieve the desired oral health by doing the treatment.
Expert's Opinion
- Dr. Manan Dhulia Dental Director of Sabka dentist says “Dental cavities can be a cause of your loss of tooth if not treated on time with filling, crown or root canal treatment. Treating the infected tooth on time can help you get rid of pain faster.”
- Dr. Jena Shah Dental Director of Sabka dentist says “Dental cavities if detected at an early stage can be treated by dental fillings which will prevent the tooth from further decay.”
- Dr. Reena Waghela Dental Director of Sabka dentist says “dental cavities or caries are caused due to improper brushing and flossing habits. Cavities or caries can be avoided by following the oral hygiene thoroughly and getting regular dental check-up done.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How do dentists detect cavities?
Conventional Diagnostic Methods:
- Visual Inspection: Help to determine the colour and texture of the lesion.
- Tactile Examination with Explorer: It is suggested to use sharp explorer, based on tug back action, for diagnosis.
- Radiographs
- Dental Floss: When unwaxed dental floss is moved across the carious proximal tooth surface, any resistance on withdrawal can be indicative.
- Ultraviolet light: It increases the optical contrast between the carious lesion and surrounding soft tissue.
- Caries Detector Dyes: They are applied for 10 seconds and then washed off. Any deeply stained tooth structure.
Advanced Diagnostic Methods: Fluorescence/Fibreoptic Transillumination
Where do most cavities occur on your teeth?
How common are cavities?
How to avoid cavities?
Which foods cause tooth decay?
How does tooth decay occur?
Can tooth decay/tooth cavity be ‘non-active’?
What will happen if a cavity is left untreated?
Can tooth decay be cured naturally?
At the starting stage of cavities, It is possible to reverse it naturally. However, in the last stages of cavity professional dental care is needed to treat cavities.
Is tooth decay in kids commonly observed?
Kids are hardly aware of the importance of dental hygiene. They neglect even the basic activities related to dental hygiene. Also, they have baby teeth during the initial years, which are easily susceptible to teeth decay. This easily leads to tooth decay in children.
About Author
With extensive knowledge in dentistry, Dr. Manan Dhulia has experience over 9 years as a dentist. He has played varied roles in the Dental industry and keen a great interest in Implantology. Dr. Manan Dhulia is an expertise in Clinical Operations, Business development, and team management. With a brilliant personality, he drives the process flow, ground-level operations, and performance metrics for all units at Sabka Dentist.
