When it comes to your dental health, prevention can mean a lot of things. Every day, you should prevent the buildup of dental plaque by brushing at least twice and flossing at least once. Every six months or so, you should prevent any lingering tartar buildup from remaining too long by attending a professional dental cleaning. When it comes to tooth decay, however, prevention may mean stopping it from developing it at all, or it may mean treating the decay as soon as possible to prevent it from causing even more severe problems for your tooth.

Removing the infection from your tooth

The point of treating tooth decay at any stage is to protect your tooth and oral health by stopping the decay from progressing any further. Tooth decay, or an infection in your tooth, results from oral bacteria infecting its main structure, known as dentin. The decay will progress by eroding more dentin until it is treated. Unfortunately, any healthy, natural tooth structure that is lost to the decay’s progression will remain lost, though you can restore it with the right custom-designed tooth decay treatment, such as a tooth filling or root canal treatment.

When the cavity is still mild

There are several different symptoms that tooth decay can cause, but the direct result of your tooth structure decaying is the formation of a cavity, or depression, in your tooth’s structure. The cavity grows larger as decay erodes more of your tooth’s structure, which is the reason why treating the cavity as soon as possible is essential for preserving the rest of your tooth. In many cases, this can be accomplished with the help of a custom-designed, biocompatible tooth filling that’s designed to blend in with your tooth’s healthy, natural appearance. The filling will not only restore the tooth structure you’ve lost, but also the tooth’s integrity, which may be compromised by the hole in its structure.

When decay gets inside the tooth

In more severe cases of tooth decay, the infection in your tooth can reach the more vulnerable tissues and nerves inside of the tooth’s pulp chamber. This chamber is also connected to the tooth’s root, which extends into the jawbone to support and nourish the tooth. When tooth infection reaches the pulp chamber, all of the tissues inside of it and the tooth’s root canal can be subject to infection, resulting in severe discomfort and a heightened risk to your overall oral health. To treat more severe internal decay, you may require root canal treatment, which involves removing the infection and infected tissues from within the pulp and root canal, then sealing the chambers with a strong, biocompatible material.

Learn more about treating your tooth decay

Treating tooth decay can mean different things to different people, depending on its severity. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling the Dental Centre of Conroe in Conroe, TX, today at (936) 441-4600. We serve patients from Conroe and all neighboring communities.