One of the most frequent reasons for going to the dentist is dental caries. This is the name of the lesion of hard tissues, which begins with the destruction of enamel. If no measures are taken and prevention is not carried out, the carious process spreads deeper. Cavities are formed, various complications can join. With an unfavorable course, tooth loss occurs.
The cause of caries is considered to be the destructive effect of bacteria on the hard tissues of the tooth. A large number of various microorganisms live in the human mouth, in 2-4 hours after a thorough brushing of teeth, their number can reach up to 1 million. They actively attach to the surface and affect the enamel, which causes tooth decay. The main cause of caries are streptococci – Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguis. Moreover, the activity and harmfulness of bacteria largely depends on the body’s resistance and the presence of predisposing factors.
The fastest reproduction of bacteria occurs in a favorable environment for them, which is formed under different conditions. These include:
improper oral hygiene, especially irregular or insufficiently effective brushing of teeth;
irrational nutrition with an excess of soft carbohydrate foods and a lack of raw vegetables;
hypovitaminosis;
low content of some minerals in drinking water (fluorine, phosphorus and calcium);
violation of the formation of teeth, which is often associated with rickets or tuberculosis suffered in childhood;
decreased immunity;
the presence of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Such conditions contribute to a change in the structure of the enamel, insufficient cleaning of teeth from plaque and an increased content of bacteria in the oral cavity. This causes tooth decay. For prevention, it is necessary to eliminate these predisposing factors.
HOW TO DETERMINE CARIES?
In some cases, a person himself may assume the presence of caries, based on a change in the appearance of teeth or the appearance of some symptoms. But for a reliable diagnosis of the disease, you need to consult a dentist, since some examinations allow you to determine caries. For this purpose, 3 main methods are used: vital enamel staining, examination by ultraviolet irradiation and radiography.
Enamel staining allows you to determine the initial stages of caries, for this purpose, a special dye is applied to the previously cleaned and dried surface of the tooth. Areas of enamel damage do not change their color. If such violations are detected, the doctor may prescribe a remineralization course to restore the structure of surface tissues. Such an examination may be useful during routine examinations for the prevention and early detection of caries.
Examination with the help of ultraviolet light requires cleaning the teeth from plaque and subsequent drying. Areas of caries development under the influence of ultraviolet light do not emit a luminescent glow, unlike healthy enamel.
The radiographic method does not require special training and allows you to determine the degree of destruction and the condition of nearby tissues.