Dr. Ed Lazer treats many patients at his Owings Mills, MD dentist office who have a tooth cavity. A tooth cavity (tooth decay or dental caries) is generally the result of plaque build-up and can affect anyone, regardless of age.
Plaque is a sticky film of bacteria that constantly forms on the teeth. When plaque comes in contact with sugar and starch, it causes bacteria to produce an acid that attacks and erodes tooth enamel. As the tooth enamel breaks down and wears away, the tooth becomes susceptible to the formation of dental cavities.
How to Prevent a Tooth Cavity?
Good oral hygiene and routine dental care are the keys to minimizing your risk of tooth decay and can provide the foundation for lifelong dental health. Our Owings Mills, MD dentist office recommends the following to help you avoid a tooth cavity:
- Visit your dentist bi-annually for a checkup and a teeth cleaning
- Brush your teeth twice daily
- Floss your teeth once a day
- Limit sugar and soda and eat a healthy diet
Symptoms of a Tooth Cavity
Depending on the location and severity of the tooth cavity, the symptoms may vary from patient to patient. Sometimes, there may be no symptoms at all and the tooth cavity is discovered at your routine dental visit at our Owings Mills, MD dentist office. As the tooth cavity gets larger, the following symptoms may appear:
- Toothache
- Tooth sensitivity
- Pain when eating hot or cold foods and beverages
- Visible holes in teeth
- Pus around the tooth and gums
Treatment for a Tooth Cavity
Cosmetic & Advanced Dentistry, an Owings Mills, MD restorative dentistry office, offers a range of general dentistry services to treat any stage of a tooth cavity. A cosmetic tooth filling, a filling that is tooth colored, is often used to treat teeth with early stages of tooth decay.
The routine dental treatment will remove the decay and prevent the tooth from further damage. For teeth with larger cavities, the dentist may recommend a type of porcelain restoration such as an inlay, onlay or dental crown. This type of restoration will remove the decay and restore stability to the tooth.
When tooth decay is left untreated for some time, it can cause serious damage and an infection may form in the root canal. This is evident if you are experiencing a toothache or severe pain. If this is the case, you may require a root canal.
Root canal therapy will remove diseased tissue inside the tooth, instantly providing relief. If your dentist determines that no treatment will save the tooth, it may need to be extracted. This is a last resort and all efforts will be made to save the natural tooth.
Schedule A Dental Exam & Consultation
Cavities don’t just affect children – adult teeth may be affected by tooth decay. Contact our Baltimore dentist office to be screened for cavities and tooth decay and find out what treatment options are available to you. We offer many treatments for a tooth cavity in Owings Mills, MD and Baltimore, MD.
Call us at (410) 697-6290 or request a consultation online.