What to do if a tooth has a cavity

I believe that everyone here has done one thing, that is, telling children not to eat too much candy or cakes and other sweets, as this will deteriorate their teeth and cause cavities. In fact, it is not only children, but also ourselves. If we do not pay attention to the hygiene of our teeth for a long time, the food residue we eat will remain in our teeth, and our teeth will suffer from cavities. So what should you do after tooth decay occurs and a hole is formed?

Cavities in teeth are caused by severe tooth decay. This is mainly due to the lack of attention to oral hygiene. Food residues are stuck in the teeth for a long time, breeding bacteria. The bacteria decompose and ferment the sugar in the food to produce acid. This acid substance is more terrible. It will corrode the tooth enamel, and then the teeth will slowly go from black → small holes → big holes.

1How does tooth decay attack teeth?

2step1——Enamel Cavities

Tooth decay will begin if oral hygiene is not good. It starts by destroying the tooth enamel and small black/brown spots will appear on the surface of the teeth. The patient himself cannot feel it at this time, so it is difficult to detect early tooth decay by himself and requires clinical diagnosis by a dentist.

3 Treatment: After grinding off the small black spots, apply light-curing resin.

4tep2 - Dentin caries

Bacteria break through the hard enamel and approach the dentin. If you lick it with your tongue, you will feel a larger tooth hole. At this time, the patient will feel pain at first and be sensitive to cold and heat, but will not feel pain when it is not stimulated. At this time, it is not too late to go to the hospital to fill the cavity.

Treatment: Grind away the decayed tooth and fill it with light-cured resin.

5step3——Cavities that invade the dental pulp

Tooth decay is not controlled in its early stages and has already destroyed the dentin to the point of approaching the pulp. At this time, there are already large cavities on the teeth, and they are very sensitive to cold, heat, sourness and sweetness, and sometimes experience severe pain (acute inflammation period), especially at night. Even removal of the irritant will not provide relief. When the acute phase is over, the symptoms disappear and the teeth enter a state of chronic inflammation.

PS: Many people think that everything is fine after experiencing severe pain, and thus miss the opportunity for treatment.

Treatment: Most cases require pulp preservation. If pulp preservation is unsuccessful, root canal treatment and filling are the only options.

6step4——Develop to the root tip

When pulp inflammation is not under control, the inflammation will spread to the root apex, causing extreme pain, swollen face, and abscesses at the root. If you do not care at this time, it will develop into chronic apical periodontitis or even apical cyst, requiring surgical treatment.

Treatment: Root canal treatment + pile driving + crown/root canal treatment + apical surgery + pile driving + crown

1step5——The teeth are "rotten"

When tooth decay develops to the advanced stage, the tooth structure is damaged and disintegrated, leaving only the residual root. At this point, your tooth can no longer be saved and will have to be extracted, otherwise it will become a lesion in your mouth.

Treatment: Extraction + Denture

After understanding the development process of tooth decay, let’s take a look at the process of filling a tooth.

When a tooth becomes decayed and becomes a cavity, it means that the tooth needs to be filled.

2 Before filling a tooth, remove the carious tissue. In addition to using a high-speed dental drill to remove caries, if you don’t want to hear the sound of teeth grinding, we use caries removal gel to remove caries silently.

3Due to the different filling materials, the required hole preparation requirements are also different. So, can a filled tooth last long? It not only depends on the material, but also on the patient's own dental conditions, and more importantly, the doctor's technical level.

4 According to the size of the cavity, choose appropriate tools to compact the composite resin tightly into the cavity.

Irradiation with a photosensitive curing lamp causes the material to rapidly solidify and polymerize.

So, if there is a small hole in your tooth, it only costs a few hundred dollars to fill it. If it turns into a big hole and damages the nerves, it will cost several thousand dollars. If the tooth is pulled out and a new one is replaced, it will cost ten or twenty thousand dollars! Take out a mirror and check your teeth first. If there is a problem, do not miss it and seek medical attention in time.