Many of the oral diseases are preventable but you need to be diligent about following good dental hygiene and regular visits to the dentist. Some of these preventable oral diseases include infectious diseases, cavities and gum diseases. Oral injuries also come under the umbrella of oral diseases.
Any oral disease that you are not able to prevent can be identified in your regular visits to the dentist and can be dealt with. One such disease is dental caries. Caries and cavities are terms that are used interchangeably but they are not the same thing. Carries is the medical term used to describe tooth decay. Caries can develop into cavities. Bacteria produce acidic by-products and it can breakdown the enamel of the tooth. Once the acid penetrates the enamel, the dentin is exposed to infection. This is a softer layer of the tooth that surrounds that pulp. Bacterial acid is able to break down this layer easily compared to enamel because of its softness. This leads to the creation of a cavity inside the tooth. At this point, carries become cavities. Dentists use fillings, root canal treatment, crowns and tooth extraction to deal with tooth decay. You can prevent tooth decay by following good oral hygiene such as brushing regularly.
If a dental cavity is discovered early on, the dentist will be able to reverse the effects of the decay by prescribing fluoride treatments. A common treatment method is fillings. Using a dental crown or extracting the tooth is done when tooth decay is serious. If the infection has spread to the tooth pulp, a root canal treatment will need to be done. Gum disease is another common oral disease and there are several forms of it such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis occurs when tartar and plaque build up on your teeth. When gingivitis is left untreated, it progresses into periodontitis. This is when the gums pull away from teeth causing further infection. Some of the treatment methods are tooth extraction, antibiotic treatment and surgery. When you are at the gingivitis stage, the effects can be reversed if identified early on. If reversal is not possible, root planning and scaling will be done. Surgery will be required for periodontitis.
In many cases, oral cancer doesn’t show up any indication at the beginning. Therefore, regular visits to the dentist are very important. Some symptoms of oral cancer are having a lump in your mouth, sores on the mouth or lip that don’t heal, loose teeth, persistent mouth pain and painful swallowing. There are several infectious diseases that can target your teeth and mouth. One such infection is oral herpes. This can be seen in children and adults. Once it gets into your system when you are a child, you will carry this virus throughout your life. A large percentage of adults live with dormant or active forms of oral herpes. Mouth injury trauma is mostly a result of sports injuries. So you need to make sure that the right protective wear such as helmets and mouthguards are used.
