>Can anyone point me to a site with pictures of x-rays of the teeth and
>their cavities, my dentists always shows me the x-ray but I can never
>see the cavity.
Sure .......
A cavity appears as black. The tooth in the center is a HUGE cavity
and the tooth needs to be extracted, while the adjacent tooth to the
left has a small cavity appearing on the outer edge.
Tooth to the left
You can see how the black (decay) has broken through the thin shell of
enamel and is not expanding into the softer dentin underneath.
Center tooth
The tooth in the center is infected (chronic periapical abscess)
meaning there are bacteria collecting around the roots of the tooth.
Tooth to the right
The tooth to the right is a wisdom tooth that is erupting.
I'd say this patient is between 16 and 20 years old.
Joel
http://www.cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-67/issue-2/graphics/Clokie2_1126.jpg
Buck - 29 Jan 2005 04:25 GMT
Great picture and explanation, thanks.