If left untreated, dental caries will deteriorate into a condition in which a tooth extraction is needed. Then how does dental caries develop from a mild one to a severe one?

    1.Mild caries

    It’s just the beginning of dental caries. The lesions are only confined to tooth enamel manifested as black spots or lines on the tooth surface, accompanied by no other symptoms. So caries at this stage is quite easy to get overlooked.

    2.Moderate caries

    The caries has proliferated into the deeper layer of enamel and dentin over time. In that case, there will be symptoms of food entrapment. 

    3.Severe caries

    With further progression, dental caries will reach the deeper layer of dentin, resulting in pain when eating or discomfort irritated by something hot and cold. 

    4.Pulpitis

    Dental nerves will be the next victim as inflammation progresses continuously. At that time, there will be spontaneous pain or pain when confronting cold or hot irritations. If it’s an acute pulpitis, the pain will be unbearable, including referred pain and night pain.

    5.Periapical periodontitis

    Dental pulp has already been dead, while inflammation is still seeking its way into deeper structure like the root tip, bringing about occlusal pain. At such stage, the most part of crown has been decayed, making it more susceptible to tooth fracture when biting on hard food. Under such circumstance, the tooth is almost irreparable and needed to be extracted. 

    Given that a tooth extraction is not conducted when there is periapical periodontitis, it may result in periapical abscess as the tooth decay continue to progress. 

    Forget the thought that it’s quite a long way from mild dental caries to tooth extraction. Only by an early detect and timely treatment to your dental problems, can your teeth remain healthy for a longer time. 

    Feel free to contact me if there’s any dental problem. (WeChat ID: aiyuan325180)