I found that many teeth have pit and fissure caries

I believe that most people in life want to have perfect teeth, but some people's teeth are not so perfect. There are often some stains, or they look like rust inside. These stains on the teeth are very harmful and will affect the normal chewing function, especially when many teeth are found to have pit and fissure caries, which will affect future eating and even diet.

Pathogenesis

The development of dental caries involves several important steps: the formation of dental plaque, the metabolism of sugar by cariogenic bacteria in the dental plaque environment to produce acid to form polysaccharides, and the acid dissolving the hard tissue of the tooth into holes.

Pathophysiology

When caries occurs in pits and fissures, the damage first occurs on the side walls of the pits and fissures and eventually spreads to the base. The caries lesions develop and deepen along the enamel prism, reaching the dentin, and then spread along the dentin-dentin junction.

Symptoms

The bottom of the pit and fissure is close to the enamel-dentin junction or located in the dentin. Once caries occurs, the destruction can quickly develop deep into the dentin, forming a caries cavity that appears small but is actually deep and large.

Disease hazards

Because the enamel at the bottom of the pits and fissures is thinner than that on the smooth surface, pit and fissure caries can easily and quickly spread to the dentin and even the pulp cavity. Caries can eventually spread to the pulp (dental nerve), causing pulpitis or apical inflammation. If not treated in time, it will lead to tooth loss. The back teeth are responsible for the main chewing function. Once they are lost, the chewing function will be greatly reduced, affecting nutritional intake and growth and development.

Diagnosis

Visual inspection, probing, and imaging

Diagnosis

Pit and fissure staining, probe can be inserted or stuck, enamel softening at the bottom of the groove

Disease treatment

Preventive resin filling: Grind away the carious tissue of the affected tooth, prepare a box-shaped cavity and fill it with light-cured composite resin, clean the tooth surface, and seal the adjacent pits and fissures with pit and fissure sealants. It can not only effectively reduce the incidence of secondary caries, but also retain more tooth tissue than preventive expansion. It is a method for treating early caries in pits and fissures that is more in line with the requirements of conservative cavity preparation in modern tooth restoration.