Tooth Decay Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

Tooth decay occurs as result of cavity or dental caries. It is as result of bacteria producing acids that attack and eat away at a tooth. Tooth decay can cause infection, pain and tooth loss if not treated. Prevention is by brushing and flossing your teeth regularly, consulting your dentist checkups and cleaning and abstain from foods with high sugar content. Tooth decay should not be neglected. Getting to know about the basics of tooth decay formation can help one surmount having cavities.
Until you have cavity or infection, tooth decay will not show any symptoms.  But when these occurs, the symptoms includes: broken tooth or a tooth sensitive to pressure; toothache (most common symptom); infection and irritation of the pulp; grey, brown or black spots on the teeth; loose fillings.. These pains may worse if you: eat hot or cold foods, drink cold or hot liquids or acidic liquids such as citrus drinks; eat sweets; chew gum; breathe in cold air; brush your teeth.  Abscess may form on the bone at the base of the tooth in a case of severe tooth decay. These abscess may cause a swollen jaw, deep throbbing pain and fever.
Causes
Tooth decay is mainly caused by the combination of bacteria and foods. These bacteria forms on the teeth. The bacteria is contained in a clear sticky substance called plaque. The bacteria produce acids as they feed on the sugars contained in the foods we eat. After eating, the acids attack the teeth for 20minutes or more. These acids attacks the teeth enamel and destroys it over a time period. Tooth decay is likely to occur if you don’t brush twice a day, morning and bedtime before going to bed; if you don’t floss your teeth daily; when you eat food with a lot of sugar. The longer these sugar stay on your teeth, the longer the bacteria feeds on them and more acids produced. Junk foods and foods such as: cookies, raisins, sugar-coated cereals, biscuits and cakes cause the most harm.  Deficiency of fluoride in the water also makes tooth decay more likely. The bacteria that causes tooth decay is transferrable. A mother can pass it to her child. These occurs when people share spoons, forks or other utensils with their babies. The saliva on these utensils contains the bacteria. Kissing can also transfer these bacteria and saliva. Prevent tooth decay by ensuring you and your family practices good dental health hygiene.
Treatment
The treatment depends on its severity. Brush and floss with toothpaste that contains fluoride. Also engage in receiving fluoride treatments to help in averting early decay before the formation of cavities.
A filling is needed when cavity is formed. The filling is used to recover the tooth to its original shape by plugging the filling material to the cavity hole, after the dentist has removed the decay.
You may also need a crown if the decay is very bad and tooth is badly harmed. Crown is an artificial replacement of the whole or part of a tooth.
When pulp is infected, you need a root canal treatment. This treatment removes the diseased pulp of the tooth.
The teeth may need to be pulled out (extraction) when the root is badly damaged. The tooth maybe replaced with an implant or a bridge.
When tooth decay is neglected, the dental caries may worsen and you may lose your teeth. The cost and duration for treatment may also increase.