Frequently Asked Questions

Dental Caries

Date Posted: 1/1/2002

Question How do dentists treat dental caries?

Answer Early dental caries is reversible. Mineral can be deposited back onto the tooth surface if you can modify your diet and oral hygiene. Your dentist can treat early areas of caries with topical fluoride, and if you are careful with your diet and cleaning no other treatment may be required. A more advanced area of dental caries will require a "filling". Your dentist will remove the damaged and infected soft tooth structure and repair the tooth. It is important to have this done as early as possible to preserve the strength of the tooth and prevent bacteria damaging the tooth pulp. It is very important to listen to your dentist’s advice on how to eliminate the cause of your caries. Don’t think that just fixing a cavity will stop the disease from occurring in other areas of the mouth.

More questions in this category:

What is dental caries?
What causes dental caries?
How can you prevent dental caries?
Why is saliva important?
What happens when my saliva is not adequate?
How do dentists treat dental caries?
How important is my diet in preventing and treating dental caries?