Dental Caries
Dental Caries is a disease of dental hard tissues (the enamel and dentine of your tooth).
Disease Progression
It is important to remember that dental caries itself does NOT cause pain. Only when infection reaches the nerve of your tooth will the tooth start to become sensitive and painful. In our experience, some people do not even seem to have pain when the caries has reached the nerve.
It is therefore unwise to rely on symptoms like pain to decide whether you have dental caries or not. Regular dental check ups
Preventative Measures
Fluoride
Remineralization
Good oral hygiene
Reduced sugar intake
Treatment of Dental Caries
Once dental caries has progressed to the point where there is an actual hole in the tooth it is essential to place a restoration
Recurrent Dental Caries
It would be nice to be able to say that once you have had a restoration placed your troubles with dental caries are over. Unfortunately they are not. So long as there is natural tooth structure remaining, it has the potential for caries to develop.
In fact, it is much easier for caries to develop at the margins of a restoration than on a totally intact tooth surface. This is because the margin is a meeting point of 2 different materials (the restoration material and the tooth structure) and that interphase is never as perfect as the intact tooth surface.
Disease Progression
It is important to remember that dental caries itself does NOT cause pain. Only when infection reaches the nerve of your tooth will the tooth start to become sensitive and painful. In our experience, some people do not even seem to have pain when the caries has reached the nerve.
It is therefore unwise to rely on symptoms like pain to decide whether you have dental caries or not. Regular dental check ups
Preventative Measures
Fluoride
Remineralization
Good oral hygiene
Reduced sugar intake
Treatment of Dental Caries
Once dental caries has progressed to the point where there is an actual hole in the tooth it is essential to place a restoration
Recurrent Dental Caries
It would be nice to be able to say that once you have had a restoration placed your troubles with dental caries are over. Unfortunately they are not. So long as there is natural tooth structure remaining, it has the potential for caries to develop.
In fact, it is much easier for caries to develop at the margins of a restoration than on a totally intact tooth surface. This is because the margin is a meeting point of 2 different materials (the restoration material and the tooth structure) and that interphase is never as perfect as the intact tooth surface.