Patient's question:
Children often have toothache, which may be caused by eating too much sugar when they were young, making it difficult for them to eat. Can the tooth be pulled?Doctor's answer:
This is the manifestation of caries, which is a disease that gradually destroys the hard tissues of the teeth. The onset of the disease begins on the tooth crown. If it is not treated in time, the lesion continues to develop, forming a cavity, and ultimately the tooth crown is completely destroyed and disappears. Untreated cavities will not heal on their own, and the final outcome of their development is the loss of the tooth. Caries is a bacterial disease, so it can lead to pulpitis and periapical periodontitis, and even cause inflammation of the alveolar bone and jaw bone. The main method of treating caries is filling. This involves removing all decayed tissue, shaping it into a specific cavity, cleaning and disinfecting it, and then filling it with a filling material to restore the tooth's damaged appearance. Once filled, the decay will no longer progress. Filling is most effective for shallow caries. For medium and deep caries, after removing the decayed tissue, the cavity floor may be close to the pulp, requiring a protective agent to be added to the cavity floor before initial filling. Sometimes, after removing the decayed tissue in deep caries, the pulp is exposed, necessitating pulp treatment before filling can proceed.