How to treat caries?

Some people think that it is enough to fill the bad tooth and caries will be gone. It is true, but before that it is necessary to find out two things: how deep has caries affected the tooth and what group does the damaged tooth belong to? Knowing this, it will be easier for the dentist to find the right filling material and to use the most appropriate method of treatment.

There are 3 main methods used to treat surface caries. The most widespread method presupposes dissection of the tooth with further filling. The degree of dissection is individual and varies from case to case. Do not worry. Your dentist will carefully examine the tooth and chose the most suitable variant for you.

Dissection in dentistry has a series of peculiarities. First of all, dentist should make a cavity for the filling. This cavity must affect not only dental enamel but also dentine. If the cavity is not big enough the filling will be less durable and will most likely soon fall out. Anticaries filling is made up of two layers: isolating cavity liner and the filling.

This fact must be taken into account while treating and filling masticatory teeth, premolar and molar teeth (their contact surfaces).

Treatment of median caries has much in common with treatment of surface caries. Dissection of hard tooth tissues is the most important stage in the process of treatment. It is carried out according to the general classification.

Deep caries demands different approaches. The thing is that the tooth pulp is surrounded by a thin layer of dentine not affected by caries. The dentist will have to leave the pigmented or sometimes even softened dentine in the cavity. The next thing to do is to place a medical seal inside the cavity. Such seals are usually made of calcium paste. They are used to reduce inflammation and stimulate the process of formation of dentine. Some people may wonder why the dentist will not remove dentine. The thing is that if the dentist removes dentine, no filling will help to restore the tooth. Prosthetics will be applied then.

The main difference concerning treatment of deep caries is that a 3-layer filling is used. It is made up of a medical seal, isolating cavity liner (usually made of phosphate cement), and constant filling material (usually amalgam).

There is an interesting thing concerning filling materials used to treat caries. The choice of the filing material depends not only on the patient`s choice but also on the type of the tooth. Anteriors (cutting teeth and canines), for example, are filled with composite materials and silicate cements. Anteriors should not only successfully perform their functions, but also look attractive. That is why filling materials used for treatment of anteriors must be not only durable, but also capable of imitating the natural color of teeth.

Treatment is important but there are things that are as important for successful treatment of caries. First of all it`s pretreatment of the carious cavity. It is necessary to remove even the smallest fragments of dentine with the help of an air or water jet. Then the dentist should remove liquid from the cavity as it can affect the tenacity of cement. This factor is especially important in cases when polymeric or composite filling materials are used.