Dental Caries

Commonly known as “tooth decay” or “cavities” remains one of the most common diseases in the world inspite of best efforts world wide. It is an infection of the  tooth which is bacterial in origin. The bacteria demineralizes the tooth surface by producing certain acidic substances which gradually eats away the outer layers of tooth. If unchecked this infection can ultimately reach the inner core of the tooth (pulp) which contains blood vessels and nerves. Once that happens the patient will invariably experience symptoms like pain, sensitivity, swelling etc.

Dental Filling

Dental Caries when detected early (likely to happen if you go for regular dental check-ups) can be restored quite easily by dental restorative materials. This is an preventive & interceptive dental procedure as it prevents your tooth from getting damaged any further and at the same time restores the normal anatomy of the tooth surface.

The normal procedure which is followed is that, first the affected tooth is cleaned of all the dead and infected tissues. Depending on the depth of cavity your dentist may put a thin pulp protective layer of restorative material followed by another layer of much tougher restorative material which is strong enough to bear the masticatory forces.

Today there are a wide varieties of restorative materials available with your dentist. The choice for the correct restorative material is dictated by the clinical situation and aesthetic demands of the patient. You can discuss your choice with your dentist before getting the restoration done. A timely restored tooth is as good as any other natural tooth in your mouth.

Root Canal Treatment

In those rare instances where a person chooses to ignore the presence of cavities in  his mouth or is unaware of the presence of cavities, the disease process progresses and infects the pulp of the tooth. When this happens he is left with only two options – RCT or Extraction. Root Canal treatment (RCT) is a simple painless procedure which is carried out under local anesthesia. It disinfects the offending tooth along with its root/roots. That is followed by filling the root by an inert material. The crown portion of the tooth is usually replaced by an artificial crown (capping) for durability. The whole procedure may take 3-4 visits to your dentist however what you get in return is a natural tooth which will always be better than the best artificial tooth.