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Cavities
One of my great professors at Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine, Fred Ferguson, used to tell us that there are four key requirements for causing a cavity. As you'll see from a previous CrossKeys Dental blog post, there are many factors to cavity production, but when looked at on the most basic level you might be surprised by how easy it is to understand the process...
Every tooth has a root canal. That is the name of the tiny canal that runs through the center of each tooth's root. This "tube" houses the pulp, which is the soft tissue inside of the tooth that includes nerves and blood vessels. When there is a problem with the pulp, your dentist will perform endodontic treatment, otherwise known as root canal therapy (RCT)...
Most of you have already experienced the new state of the art imaging systems we employ in our practice at CrossKeys Dental in Fairport, NY. Many of us are old enough to remember having the dental staff put little film packets in our mouth and take pictures that the dentist would look at to detect cavities and other problems. From those tiny films, the diagnosis and treatment decisions were decided upon. Now, the images are displayed on a huge monitor where we can all see them together and share in the decisions. That alone is worth the change from film to digital systems, but there is much more...
Where do we find them? Where do they come from and how can they be prevented?
Your dentist calls them dental caries and we spend our careers trying to stop them from spreading. Think about it: have you ever been to a visit with the dentist without them and the hygienist reviewing proper oral hygiene. It's the sound of a constant drumbeat - brush twice a day for 2 minutes... make sure you floss daily… do you use a fluoride rinse?… and on and on and on. I often joke with my patients that we must be the only professionals that are trying to put ourselves out of business!
Let's face it, most of us have had at least one cavity, even those that heed our warning and follow a good home-care regimen, but following your dentist's recommendations will vastly reduce your risk and keep us from having to pick up our drill.
Here are 5 facts about cavities that you may not have known: ...
