Tooth Decay begins when the protein
of your saliva combines with the sugars and carbohydrates
of food particles left on and between your teeth.
This combination creates bacteria-laden plaque,
from which acid is produced that eats away at the
hard enamel shell around your tooth. Left unchecked,
a hole will be created in the enamel and a cavity
will rapidly form in the softer dentin which lies
under the enamel. If the cavity is caught in time,
usually a Filling will
correct the problem. Larger cavities may require
a Crown. However, if nothing
is done and the decay spreads, the sensitive pulp
(nerve) may become involved, often causing an Abscess,
and Root Canal Therapy
or Extraction may
be required.
No cavity on first X-ray.
Months later, cavities that start
between the teeth can't be seen by visual examination,
but they can be detected on an X-ray.
This cavity was detected and filled before the patient felt
any discomfort, and before the nerve became infected or the
tooth became abscessed.
There is another cavity shown in the X-ray on
the right. Can you find it? It's difficult for the untrained
eye to spot. Click here to see where it is. (Hint: It's not the
left edge of the top left tooth. That's just the edge of the
frame around the X-ray).
