One of the most aggressive forms of carious lesions is cervical caries, without treatment, this disease can completely destroy a tooth.
The place of its appearance is characterized by a small thickness and insufficient mineralization of the enamel. Because of this, dental tissues are destroyed quickly enough, which threatens to turn into pulpitis and periodontitis.
In addition, due to the specifics of localization, the lesion can spread throughout the gingival region, including the anterior, posterior and contact surfaces (circular caries). It is also fraught with unpleasant consequences. For example, if the cervical caries of the anterior teeth is not treated, the crown or part of it often breaks off.
Symptoms of dental caries
Caries of the neck of the tooth can manifest itself in different ways. But, unlike pulpitis and periodontitis, pain is always of a short-term nature and stops almost immediately after the removal of the stimulus. This aspect allows the doctor to make a correct preliminary diagnosis without resorting to X-ray diagnostics.
The fact that treatment of caries of the neck of the tooth is required may be signaled by a change in the color of the enamel. First, a white chalky spot appears on it, then pigmentation of the lesion occurs, and the spot may become brown or even black. Sometimes during the use of sour food there is a feeling of soreness. In the future, the process is aggravated, and pain appears during eating.
Methods of treatment of caries of the neck of the tooth
There are several ways to treat cervical caries:
conservative therapy. Effective at the initial stage of the disease. To stabilize the process, doctors use remineralizing therapy and deep fluoridation. With the help of special preparations, the enamel is saturated with useful substances and gains strength.
Exposure to infected tissues with a laser. The cost of treating cervical caries in this case is very high, but due to the sterility of the procedure, there is no risk of re-infection.
Preparation of teeth with subsequent filling of cavities.
Since patients mainly come to the dentist with significant damage to the crown due to cervical caries, treatment by mechanical cleaning and restoration of the defect is the most common.
The procedure is carried out as standard:
teeth are cleaned of deposits
carious tissues are excised with burs
the cavity is treated with medicines and dried
the tooth is reconstructed with filling materials
the filling is ground and polished
Despite a good overview of the cavity, with the diagnosis of “gingival caries” treatment causes many problems. The defect is located in an inconvenient place for filling. In addition, there is a risk of moisture and blood entering the working field from an injured or inflamed gum edge. Therefore, high qualification and experience of the doctor are extremely important.