Caries is a disease of the teeth, characterized by its chronic nature. It provokes a slow destruction of the tooth enamel and leads to the fact that carious cavities (holes) appear in the teeth.
Today you will find out, How does caries look on teeth, see photos with examples of this disease. We will also tell you how to identify it on baby teeth in children.
Content
Why does caries appear?
Due to this disease, most often in children and adults teeth fall out. Caries develops for various reasons, it can be determined by black holes and darkening of the teeth. On the attached photo you can see how it looks. The disease is treated depending on its distribution, mainly filling.
Key reason of appearance and caries development is the activity of the bacteria Streptococcus mutans (streptococcus mutans). This type appears in the oral cavity in children from the first days of life. But the presence of this bacterium is not enough for a person to develop caries. Among other causes of the disease are the following:
- poor dental hygiene - irregular brushing. This leads to the fact that many bacteria accumulate in the mouth, which eat the remnants of food stuck in the interdental spaces;
- abuse of sweets (candy, chocolate and other). Because of this, plaque is formed in an accelerated mode, and if it is not removed in time, the number of bacteria in the oral cavity grows faster;
- bacteria that thickly surround the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, in the framework of their vital activity, emit acidsthat increase acidity, it leads to the leaching of calcium from tooth enamel and destroys it;
- low calcium content;
- hereditary factor and other factors.
How to recognize caries
In the photo you can see signs by which you can accurately identify this disease. It includes several stages, each of which has its own distinctive external manifestations:
- stage stains - the first. It manifests itself as the appearance of small dark or white spots on the teeth. They appear due to partial demineralization of calcium from tooth enamel. The person at the same time does not complain about anything, caries during this period is not easy to identify;
- superficial caries - the second stage. It is characterized by deeper damage to the enamel. A small cavity forms in the tooth. When taking hot or cold food, as well as salty, sweet and sour, unexpressed pain appears, which disappears after the annoying factor is removed
- deep caries - At this stage, a deep cavity appears in the tooth. As in the previous case, there are frequent pains when taking salty, sweet, sour, hot or cold. Pain disappears after brushing or rinsing. And if it does not pass, then this indicates a deeper lesion of the teeth, for example, pulpitis (nerve inflammation).
Often caries is accompanied by an unpleasant smell and inflammation of the tissues that surround the tooth - this is called periodontitis.
The transition of caries from the first stage to the last one can last for years, but it can happen much faster if the factors listed are combined with each other.
Features of caries in children
The causes of this disease in children are the same as in adults. However, sometimes there is an increased predisposition to this disease, if this or that stage of pregnancy in the mother was not entirely favorable, and there was an intensive deposition of calcium salts in the area of the tooth germs. A small amount of calcium in such cases is the key cause of caries in a child.
It also occurs because microbes are constantly in the mouth, which enter the child’s stomach and digestive organs along with the saliva. And if we talk about children who do not particularly care about hygiene during the games, the risk is very high.
At an early age, caries of milk teeth proceeds more rapidly than in adults, and the destructive process can immediately spread to several teeth. The consequences can be disastrous if the parents do not take the child to a specialist in time.
The mistake of many parents is that they don’t worry about the health of the baby’s milk teeth, because they are temporary. But the carious process can quickly go beyond the root and provoke purulent melting of adjacent soft tissues. In this case, the tooth is pulled out. Sometimes this procedure for a child is very difficult psychologically and creates a sense of fear of dentists for many years.
The consequences of children's caries
Premature removal of milk teeth due to caries can provoke a large number pathologies and diseases, eg:
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bronchial asthma; - gastritis;
- tonsillitis;
- pharyngitis;
- pyelonephritis;
- speech and taste disorders;
- deformation of the shape of the face.
And it's not even that neglected caries in children provokes the appearance of various chronic and allergic diseases, it can also cause the development of an inferiority complex. After all, when a child walks with rotten teeth or without them, he automatically becomes the object of ridicule in school, garden, or among yard friends.
How to detect caries of milk teeth in children?
Statistics show that caries occurs in 12 percent of children under one year of age, and by the age of five it affects 73 percent of babies. As you can see, milk teeth, which erupt on average at the age of six months and should be healthy by definition, may already be caries by the year. Moreover, at this age the stages may be different. This is especially common in children living in remote communities, where there is no possibility of decent treatment.
As a rule, caries first affects front baby teeth and appears as spots of black, yellow, white, and brown. Highly noticeable carious depressions (cavities) may also be observed. The affected areas are located in such places:
- in the root part of the milk tooth;
- on two or one interdental wall;
- may affect half or most of the tooth crown.
If caries affects the pits or fissures on the primary milk teeth, then these areas become black or dark brown. If it progresses, the integrity of the enamel in these pits is broken and after that a noticeable cavity and hole in the tooth appear.
So, how can you determine the caries of milk teeth? The signs of the disease are:
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Visuals. These are spots that appear very quickly. - Pain syndrome. Teeth can ache when taking sweet, cold or hot. Pain can be as intense, and almost do not bother.
- Mouth appears unpleasant smell. Microorganisms, provoking the appearance of caries, begin to turn the remains of food stuck in the mouth into rot. This forms a specific unpleasant smell, which is the cause of caries of milk teeth;
- Different manifestation.Even with a small mineralization of the enamel of children's teeth, caries can develop equally intensively not on one tooth, but on several at once, forming multiple lesions. Carbohydrate residues accumulate in the area of food retention, affected foci, interdental spaces, fissures, which creates an environment for the food of bacteria that dissolve tooth enamel.
How to diagnose and treat caries
Only a professional dentist can diagnose this disease. The base are visible changes, you can see them in the photo. In some cases, there is a need for x-rays. On it, the doctor sees the depth of caries spread, and the choice techniques future treatment.
It also depends on such factors:
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stage of caries development; - complications of caries (for example, periodontitis, pulpitis and much more);
For example, in the staining stage (first stage) the key principles of treating a disease are:
- strict and careful hygiene of the oral cavity;
- the use of specialized medicinal pastes containing calcium and fluorine in large quantities;
- dental procedures (for example, calcium-based compresses, which are placed on the affected area).
But uncomplicated forms of the disease are treated by cleaning the carious cavity of extinct tissues and installing a filling. If the caries is deep, then the seal is placed temporary, for a period of several weeks, then the doctor should install it on a permanent basis.
If we talk about the treatment of the disease in children, milk caries is treated in the same way. To begin, the doctor must clean the cavity in the tooth from dead tissue, then put a seal. After that, he should prescribe oral rinsing using fluorine-containing solutions or vitamins and minerals for the teeth (for example, calcium and vitamins of different groups).
Methods for preventing disease at different ages
In order to prevent the occurrence of this disease in both children and adults, you must follow these simple rules:
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Carefully and carefully monitor oral hygiene. Brush your teeth twice a day - in the mornings and evenings. They need to be cleaned in a circular motion in the direction from the roots of the teeth to their edge. You also need to clean the inside of the tongue and cheeks, where bacteria can also accumulate. Cleaning should last about 3-4 minutes; - the child must learn to brush their teeth from the age of two. The procedure needs to be made for him as interesting as possible, so that later it will grow into a habit, and he could do it without unnecessary reminder. To begin, the child needs to acquire special pasta with a pleasant aromatic taste;
- good prevention is the presence of fluoride in large quantities in toothpaste or drinking water. Fluorine based rinses are also suitable, which reduce the risk of caries;
- if, despite decent teeth care, caries still appears, then more intensive preventive methods should be used. For example, you should rinse your mouth with chlorhexidine for a minute, give xylitol in the form of sweets.
As you can see, caries can be prevented if you closely monitor your teeth. And if you have seen his signs in yourself or in a child, then it is better to contact the dentist as early as possible, until complications appear. As a rule, installing a seal effectively solves this problem.
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