We often hear about how important it is to brush our teeth and to floss everyday in order to keep a good oral health. Annual dental check-ups and cleanings must also be part of a healthy regiment to keep your teeth healthy. Even with all the precautions that you take and the good habits that you have, you might still get diagnosed with cavities by your dentist. What exactly is a cavity and how does it progress?
Dental caries is a disease of the hard tissue of the tooth. The progression of the caries goes towards the inside of the tooth in multiple steps. First, the cavity forms only on the superfical layer of the tooth, the enamel. At that stage, the enamel is not yet perforated, the dentist can still treat the tooth in a less invasive way. At that stage, the cavity is not painful and is more difficult to detect unless a dental exam is performed. If the cavity is not treated in a reasonable timeframe, the cavity will progress into the dental pulp where the nerve and blood supply are located. At that stage of the dental caries evolution, pain becomes intense, persistent and very difficult to tolerate. Major dental treatments are then required in order to save the tooth or else it needs to be extracted.
Whatever the severity of you cavity, it is important to book an appointment at our clinic in Chateauguay as soon as your diagnostic is made. Every cavity evolves at a different pace. It’s hard for us to give an estimate as to how fast the cavity will reach the nerve of the tooth.
The Order of dentists of Quebec has made an explanatory video about dental cavity and its evolution.
Contact your dentist in Chateauguay for a dental exam so you can have your cavities detected on time. The sooner your cavity is detected, the easier Dr. Nguyen and her team will be able to restore you tooth.
