Caries or so-called “hole” is the most common type of dental damage. Almost every person has faced caries. Caries is the impairment of the hard dental tissue or enamel and dentin. The rate of development of caries is individual in every person and it is determined by several factors – hereditary factors, factors of external environment, use of medications, serious diseases, as well as human habits. If caries is not treated promptly, complications like inflammation of the tooth nerve (pulpitis), inflammation of the bone tissue (periodontitis) and inflammation of soft tissue of the bone (abscess) may develop.
Small caries-related defects are asymptomatic and therefore the patient is not aware of their existence. Sensitivity of the tooth is the sign of a deep caries (the tooth usually becomes sensitive to hot or cold thermal influences, or sweet taste. Sometimes the patient can notice an unpleasant smell from the mouth or feel an uneven surface with their tongue, notice a dark spot on the surface of the tooth or observe that food starts to get caught in the spaces between their teeth. Luckily, if the patient promptly visits the dentist, caries is easy to treat by a dental filling. Therefore, it is very important to visit a dentist for preventive purposes at least once per year. If pain develops, fillings alone will not be enough. At best, the tooth can be saved by treating root canals and filling later or by prosthetic therapy. In the worst case, the tooth must be removed.