Dental caries III

Question 1

how do you identify pit and fissure caries?

Answer 1

black or brown discoloration of fissure or when probe catches when being run across

Question 2

enamel directly bordering pit or fissure may appear opaque bluish white when a patient is suffering from pit and fissure caries. why is this ?

Answer 2

the blue discoloration signifies undermined enamel

Question 3

what is frank cavitation and what event occurs before it ?

Answer 3

-caries reaching DEJ, before it , the legion will become roughened

Question 4

why are children specifically suceptible to rampant caries?

Answer 4

-dentinal tubules are large and opened

-baby bottle syndrome

-primary teeth are generally more susceptible to caries

-can also be caused by saliva reduction

Question 5

how are rampant caries different from chronic caries?

Answer 5

rampant caries affect more than 2 teeth in the same arch .

It also leads to early involvement of pulp while chronic caries takes several months before pulp can be involved.

-in rampant caries there is limited time for protective responses of pulpo-dentinal complex while in chronic caries there is sufficient time (sclerosis of dentinal tubule and secondary dentine formation)

Question 6

why do arrested caries become arrested?

Answer 6

-remineralization
-large cavity in which there is a lack of food retention
-smooth hard polished surface that also doesn’t allow for food retention
-has high fluoride content

Question 7

early dentinal sclerosis limits the rate of inward spread of caries but it allows it to spread in what direction ?

Answer 7

extensive lateral spread alog the DEJ which will undermine the enamel and cause it to fracture . this exposes the superficial softened carious dentine to the oral environment —> caries then removed by attrition or abrasion , leaving a hard polished surface

deeply stained black brown dentine

Question 8

what are the different zones of enamel caries ?

Answer 8

1.) surface zone :
-most superficial zone
-highest mineral content due to re-mineralization
-remains relatively normal despite the subsurface loss again due to remineralization

2.) body of the lesion:
-area of greatest de-mineralization

3.)dark zone : superficial to translucent zone(some inorganic material still present )

4.) translucent zone : this is where the legion is stopped (limiting zone) but if it were to advance , this zone would be the first to move making it also the advancing edge of the lesion

Question 9

cavitation is the loss of which layer of the carious legion ?

Answer 9

surface zone