One important thing is your age -- in other words, how long these caries have been present. If you are middle aged or older, and these have been this way for years, then the best thing to do is keep an eye on them; they are not very likely to get worse.
Caries risk analysis is important. I have seen radiographs of caries that did not progress over a 15 year period. Just because there is a "hole" in the tooth, it is NOT necessarily appropriate to restore the tooth. There is a constant remineralization process from the minerals in your saliva, and caries can acutally "heal" under the right circumstances.
The most important thing to keep in mind is when to place [or I should say "if to place"] the first filling. We don't have any filling material that duplicates natural tooth structure, and once the initial filling is placed, the usual scenario is that the filling breaks down and needs to be replaced in 5 or 10 years. Each time the filling is replaced, the "hole" gets a bit larger, and the tooth gets more irritated by the drilling/filling. Eventually, a crown is needed, and sometimes root canal treatment as well.
In my opinion, there are many, many cases where the best thing to do is watch and see what happens. As long as you go to the dentist regularly, there is virtually no risk for problems by just watching. You may find that by watching, the caries stays the same over time, and you will not need any filling.
> I've got a question regarding caries that is being formed on few of my > teeth. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Thanks. |