The Treatment of Tooth Decay

Treatment of tooth decay is very expensive and time consuming for the patient.There are different types of treatment for tooth decay depending on the severity of each case.

When tooth decay can be detected by your dentist early on fluoride treatments done in office can help restore the tooth enamel before a full cavity has formed. In addition patient must do there part using fluoride based toothpaste, fluoride mouth rinse and flossing at home to also help in restoration of the enamel in beginning stages of decay. The fluoride restores the enamel minerals before a cavity or whole has fully occurred.

In the most common treatment of tooth decay the patient will need to have a filling. The dentist will perforate decayed area of the tooth and then fill with silver alloy, dental amalgam or composite to restore tooth to it natural shape.

In more severe cases of decay when it’s affecting the tooth by leaving little tooth structure, the dentist may want to use a crown. The process of this procedure involves the dentist to first remove the decayed portion, then repairing the tooth and placing gold, porcelain or porcelain fused to metal crown on the remaining tooth structure.

When decay has been left untreated and caused the nerve or pulp of the tooth to die leaving the patient in intense pain. Before infection has moved to the surrounding tissues leaving tooth to become abscessed they would need a root canal. The pulp chamber of the tooth including the nerve, blood vessels and the tissue of the tooth would need to be removed as well as the decayed part of the tooth. Once the decay has been removed and cleaned out the root canal and pulp is filled with a sealant called (Gutta- percha). The dentist then may put a filling or crown depending on the extent of damage the decay has caused.

In the most extreme cases of tooth decay, when a dentist has tried a root canal treatment with antibiotics, or the root canal has failed, the patient will need to have the tooth...