Dental Diseases Flashcards
Why do we need to prevent dental diseases?
Cost to health services, financial burden, impact on self esteem, time lost from school/work
Child dental health survey fact from 2013
30% of 12-15 year olds had obvious decay experience in adult teeth
What is dental caries? complex
Bacteria use sugar as a food source which forms an acid by-product of metabolism which breaks down tooth structure so loss of tooth tissue
What is dental caries? simple
loss of tooth tissue due to action of bacteria
When does caries happen?
during demineralisation - loss of phosphate and calcium
What factors are needed for caries formation?
- Plaque- the bacteria in plaque that metabolises sugars
- susceptible tooth
- substrate- food from diet
- time
What is the pellicle?
collection of sticky proteins on tooth surface derived from saliva
contains bacteria, food debris, minerals and matrix
What is actually in plaque that metabolise sugar and produce acids?
bacteria
What is the process for a carious lesion?
Acid produced as a product of carb metabolism causes a demineralisation of the tooth, if demineralisation is favoured over remineralising tooth lesion will happen
What are the levels of carious lesion?
enamel to dentine to pulp
what is the substrate causing caries
sugars like sucrose or fructose are highly cariogenic so linked to caries, starch is not digested in mouth so low cariogenicity
what role does saliva have
protective,
contains calcium and phosphate,
promotes remineralisation,
neutralises acids
whats reversible pulpitis?
sharp short pain from hot or cold
how do we go from a sound tooth to early caries?
demineralisation is favoured from diet, oral hygiene and factors like saliva
how do we reverse early caries
prevention like diet, oral hygiene, fissure sealants, community measures cause remineralisation
when can you reverse dental caries
when theres white spot lesions but once there’s a hole in enamel need to intervene
why is dental caries bad
- expensive to treat
- can cause tooth loss so harder to eat
-pain and infection
-high number of child hospital admissions
what is periodontal disease?
an inflammatory disease affecting supporting structures leading to mobility and eventually tooth loss eg gingiva, interdental papillae(gums between teeth)
what do healthy gums look like
pink and firm gingiva
pyramidal interdental papillae
no bleeding
no pockets bigger than 3mm
what is gingivitis
red inflamed gingival margins
red,swollen, shiny gums
bleeding on probing
REVERSIBLE
what is periodontitis
affects all structures, pocket formation, bone loss, gums recede, loose teeth
IRREVERSIBLE
what is the process of periodontitis
plaque bacteria, body makes immune response to bacteria, bacteria release enzymes and toxins, causes tissue breakdown
what is tooth surface loss
irreversible loss of tooth structure due to attrition (tooth on tooth wear), abrasion (tooth loss bc of brushing too hard), erosion- (acid)
What is not a sign of periodontal disease?
inflammation of gingiva
