Caries - Tooth Decay

Caries or Tooth decay takes place in a tooth when the tooth's enamel has been damaged or has dissolved, resulting in a hole or tooth cavity. Causes of tooth decay vary, but overall the damage is caused by bacteria living in the mouth as a result of poor dental hygiene. These bacteria eat the same food as we do and thrive on sugars in our food and drinks. These same bacteria release acids, responsible for the breakdown of minerals in our teeth.
 

Mild and Severe Tooth Decay
Depending on the seriousness of the tooth decay process, tooth decay needs different kinds of treatment. Holes formed by mild tooth decay are experienced by nearly every person, at least once in their life. The holes are filled by your dentist, and the tooth can be used again.
Severe tooth decay might result in having the tooth capped with a crown, to protect the damaged part of the tooth. Root canal treatment is also an option. In root canal treatment the infected core of the tooth (the pulp) is removed, thus removing the infection inside the tooth. Extraction of the tooth is the last option if severe tooth decay has damaged the tooth to a point where it cannot be treated anymore.

Types of Tooth Decay
There are different typed of tooth decay as listed below

Occlusal Caries
Occlusal caries is a form of dental carries in fissures on the surface of the tooth that we use to chew food. This area is called the occlusal surface of the tooth. This process of tooth decay starts slowly and can remain unnoticed for over a year. The tooth is attacked by bacteria living on sugars and the enamel of the tooth is damaged.

Facial Caries
A late or untreated tooth decay process may lead to complications such as facial swelling and the passing on of pus coming from an infection in the mouth, to another area in the body, usually the face or a cavity in the facial area.

If tooth decay, or caries, is not treated properly, it may lead to other painful side effects such as inflammation of the pulp inside the tooth and the bacteria in pus coming from infections could possibly spread to organs in the body.

Signs and Symptoms of Tooth Decay
Tooth decay can be identified by the various signs and symptoms mentioned as follows

Halitosis
Halitosis is another word for bad breath. The unpleasant smell that so many people suffer from comes from bacteria caused by decaying remnants of food in the mouth, causing caries. Tooth decay will cause bad breath and poor dental hygiene is another reason why people suffer from bad breath. The decaying food and bacteria produce a sulphur compound, causing bad breath

Toothache
One of the results of tooth decay can be a severe toothache. As tooth decay develops and remains untreated, an infection will occur in the soft tissue inside the tooth (the pulp). As the infection grows and pus is formed, you will experience a throbbing and very uncomfortable pain.

Causes of Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is caused by different reasons, but most of them stem from poor dental hygiene or neglect. Caries can take up to 7 years to cause a cavity in a tooth and can therefore go unnoticed for a long period of time. Tooth decay prevention is of the utmost importance, from a young age onwards. The most common causes for tooth decay are:

Food Containing Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates coming from sugars or foods high in starch content, leave traces on and in between teeth, and settle in cavities. They are broken down by bacteria, feeding on these sugars. Acids, created by the bacteria in this process, attack and damage the teeth, damaging them severely.

Accumulation of Plaque and Bacteria
Plaque contains up to 400 different kinds of bacteria, and starts to form on and in between teeth when bacteria and food and sugar remains are not effectively cleaned from the teeth. This accumulation of bacteria is one of the main causes of tooth decay, and will slowly break down the enamel of the tooth, after which it will attack the pulp in the tooth.

People who suffer from diabetes are, due to ever changing blood sugar levels, more prone to dental caries. For these people it is overly important to take good care of the teeth and gums to prevent any accumulation of plaque.

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