Symptoms of tooth decay tooth sensitivity – you may feel tenderness or pain when eating or drinking something hot, cold or sweet. grey, brown or black spots appearing on your teeth. bad breath. an unpleasant taste in your mouth.
A visual examination can also be performed to detect cavities. Teeth that are discolored, whether it is brown or black, can indicate a dental cavity. Dental x-rays or check-ups or bitewing x-rays, are additional useful options for locating cavities between teeth or beneath the gum-line.
Enamel can repair itself by using minerals from saliva, and fluoride from toothpaste or other sources. But if the tooth decay process continues, more minerals are lost. Over time, the enamel is weakened and destroyed, forming a cavity. A cavity is permanent damage that a dentist has to repair with a filling.
Sometimes your dentist is able to tell that you have a cavity just by looking at your mouth through an oral exam. They will look for things like discoloration, enamel destruction, or holes in the teeth.
If your oral hygiene routine is not thorough enough to remove the acid-excreting bacteria each day, the acid will slowly eat away at your tooth. As the tooth gets eaten away, tooth decay sets in. Tooth decay naturally looks black and can give the appearance of a black tooth.
Parents are often surprised to learn that tooth decay can begin as soon as a baby's teeth come in, usually by age six months. Decay in baby teeth can cause pain, and the infection can spread. If decay is not treated, it can destroy the baby teeth.
Process of early childhood tooth decay
The tooth decay process is also called 'caries'. In the early stages the teeth can develop white chalky areas. In the later stages, teeth have brown or black areas.
In most cases, three to four months is a reasonable time frame to expect remineralization to take effect. Most often, a dentist will suggest you come back in six months if they have found the beginning stages of a cavity.
All four center teeth, known as bottom and top incisors, usually fall out in the 6-8 year range. The sharp teeth beside them (called canines or cuspids) as well as the first molars leave a little later, around 9-12 years old. The second molars are often the last to go … typically in the 10-12 year range.
Extraction is usually necessary when the decay is too pervasive to stop and/or the gums are too infected to offer support and structure to your teeth. In these cases all the affected teeth will have to be extracted.
The first baby teeth to fall out are typically the two bottom front teeth (lower central incisors) and the two top front teeth (upper central incisors), followed by the lateral incisors, first molars, canines and second molars.
Tooth decay may not cause any pain. However, if you have dental caries you might have: toothache – either continuous pain keeping you awake or occasional sharp pain without an obvious cause. tooth sensitivity – you may feel tenderness or pain when eating or drinking something hot, cold or sweet.
Treatment for a Darkening Tooth
If your tooth is not decayed or infected and there is no other diagnosis for it, a cosmetic dentist can conceal the darkness with a porcelain veneer or composite bonding. An otherwise healthy tooth would not require extraction and a dental implant.
What Is Tooth Discoloration? Tooth discoloration is when the color of your teeth change. They don't look as bright or white as they should. Your teeth may darken, turn from white to different colors, or develop white or dark spots in places.
First, a cavity can only be seen on an x-ray once it has dissolved 20-30% of the tooth structure so it may not have been obvious last visit. And cavities can grow fast on some patients! Second, some teeth have rotations and malalignments that cause cavities to be very elusive from standard x-ray positions.
For all the good brushing does, it will not eliminate the cavity. The bottom line is you do not have the power to stop your cavity from growing. Your cavity will gradually expand to the point that it moves into the pulp chamber and spurs pain. If the cavity reaches the pulp of the tooth, it will require a root canal.
Repairs damage caused by cavities: The American Dental Association states that by getting rid of plaque, baking soda helps stop cavities that are in the beginning stages of forming, and actually repairs the damage they cause.
What Does a Cavity Look Like? While it is usually difficult to see a cavity in its beginning stages, some cavities start with a whitish or chalky appearance on the enamel of your tooth. More serious cases can have a discolored brown or black color. However, most often there are no distinguishable red alerts.
How common are cavities? More than 80% of Americans have at least one cavity by the time they enter their mid-30s. Cavities are one of the most common chronic diseases that affect all ages.