More information about cervical caries. Why caries appears on the wisdom tooth and how it is treated

Marina

I have cervical caries of the front upper two teeth, it may have appeared during pregnancy. At first I did not pay attention, but when I saw dark spots, I turned to the dentist. I had a cleaning done and a filling put in. But the filling after a while was erased, and now it is necessary to go to the specialist again. I delayed for a long time, but after reading this article, I decided to take up dental treatment as soon as possible.

Third molars played an important role in the life of an ancient person, but for modern people they are an atavism or a vestige. They erupt late or do not erupt at all, cause a lot of trouble in the treatment process. Why do we need wisdom teeth, in what cases their removal is clearly indicated, when it is better to treat the “eight”, what complications extraction can lead to - let's talk about this in detail.

What are wisdom teeth for?

There is no consensus on why a person actually needs wisdom teeth. Some people wonder if a wisdom tooth is needed at all, because it is characterized by late eruption (sometimes it does not erupt throughout a person’s life), and besides, it can quickly deteriorate. Isn't it easier to remove it? There are several theories regarding the purpose of third molars:

1. The theory of "reasonable structure": there is nothing superfluous in the human body, and if modern science cannot explain why wisdom teeth are needed, this does not mean that there is no explanation. With the development of scientific knowledge, it will appear.
2. Traditional: since ancient times, it was believed that with the eruption of the third molars, a person can become truly wise and mature, and from that moment on he is under the protection of the spirits of the family. For this reason, the “eights” received the household name “wise teeth”.
3. Reinhold Voll's theory: a tooth is a reflection of some internal human organ. When it deteriorates, this indicates the development of pathology in the body. The 8th teeth are responsible for the psycho-emotional state, the mental stability of a person, therefore it is impossible to remove them unnecessarily.
4. Supporting: "eights" become the only support for prosthetics in the elderly, when for some reason the rest of the teeth that perform this function are lost.
5. The theory of “rudiments: wisdom teeth were originally needed by ancient people in order to chew hard pieces of food that have not undergone heat treatment (for example, raw meat). A modern person does not have such a need, therefore, 8s are rudimentary organs, and in the process of evolution in future generations they will simply disappear by themselves.

In fact, the third molars successfully perform the chewing function (that is, actively participate in the digestive process), “unloading” their neighbors, but only when it comes to antagonist teeth. For the upper left eight, the lower left becomes the antagonist, and a pair is formed similarly on the right side.

Should it be removed?

This article talks about typical ways to solve your questions, but each case is unique! If you want to know from me how to solve exactly your problem - ask your question. It's fast and free!

Some people consider "eights" to be absolutely useless teeth and strive to quickly remove them. Indeed, they are more often subject to destruction, it is difficult, painful, long and expensive to treat them. Should I immediately make a radical decision to extract? In what situations can such a tooth be cured and saved?

impacted eights

Few people know the word "retention", therefore, before talking about the need to remove impacted eights, you should first clarify what it is. If a tooth erupts only partially or cannot erupt at all, this phenomenon is called retention. The tooth is called impacted. Retentions are classified according to growth characteristics:

• distal - tilt forward;
• medial - tilt back;
• horizontal;
• vertical.

Various reasons can lead to the fact that a good, healthy germ of a wisdom tooth becomes impacted or even dystopic (not erupted and growing incorrectly) (more in the article:). In the vast majority of cases, retention is provoked by the following factors that prevent the normal eruption of the third molar:

Should an impacted wisdom tooth be removed? Only a dentist can answer this question, and the decision must be made on an individual basis. When an impacted third molar is not bothersome or painful, surgery is not required. Indications for the extraction of eights are:

• purulent abscess, which was caused by a bacterial infection;
• benign formation or cyst;
• development of osteomyelitis;
• pericoronitis;
• periodontitis;
• with the development of caries;
• the location of the impacted tooth in the follicular cyst (we recommend reading:);
• the impossibility of a full-fledged treatment of diseases of the oral cavity due to the “problem” molar;
• constant pain.

Development of caries

With the development of caries of the wisdom tooth, the decision on whether to treat or remove the molar affected by the disease is made by the doctor on an individual basis. Before making a choice in favor of treatment or extraction, it will be necessary to conduct an x-ray examination, instrumental examination, and assess the condition.

Removal for caries is clearly shown:

1. if there is no anti-world tooth, then the damaged molar will not have enough chewing load - as practice shows, such wisdom teeth deteriorate much faster;
2. with a destroyed wisdom tooth;
3. the development of caries on the wisdom tooth, which is impacted.

Many dentists advise getting rid of "eights" even in the early stages of caries. The decision is justified by the "uselessness" of the third molar and the complexity of a full-fledged treatment. Surgery (especially wisdom tooth extraction) is a risk. If the wisdom tooth erupted without problems and correctly fell into place, then it makes sense to treat the canals and carry out the filling procedure. An example of a wisdom tooth affected by a carious formation can be seen in the photo for the article.

When a dentist immediately suggests removing the G8, in most cases he seeks to protect himself (quality therapy is a complex and lengthy process that only professionals can do). With the development of caries of the wisdom teeth, it is better to consult several dental clinics before making a final decision.

Pulpitis

If pulpitis of the wisdom tooth has developed, the destruction of the third molar has reached the inner layer (pulp) - this pathology usually acts as an indication for treatment. Despite the fact that pulpitis is a serious disease, fraught with complications, with pulpitis, the removal of a wisdom tooth is not always indicated. For example, a tooth is severely destroyed, it is impacted or does not have a pair. When the root canals of the tooth have good patency and are located correctly, then with pulpitis they must be sealed with high quality. With a well-treated pulpitis and a properly placed filling, the 3rd molar (even “dead”) serves for many years.

Tooth crumbles and decays

When a wisdom tooth crumbles and breaks, these are indications for its removal. Treatment brings temporary relief, which may be followed by an aggravation of the patient's condition. Inflammatory processes and the development of infectious pathologies of the oral cavity are the result of the presence of a crumbled wisdom tooth. Many try to solve the problem by taking analgesics, but their effect only applies to the symptoms. Painkillers mask the problem, as a result of which dangerous complications (abscess) can develop.

Sometimes it happens that the tooth itself is destroyed almost completely (crumbles), only the root remains of it. In such situations, the question is whether it is worth treating the roots or whether it is easier and safer to get rid of them. If the root of the destroyed wisdom tooth has no pathologies, but there is a slight inflammation, then it can be treated and after the end of the course of therapy, think about the possibility of building up.

In what cases is it treated without removal?

The treatment of "eights" is technically more difficult than the treatment of other teeth. This is due not only to the location of the third molars, which makes them difficult to access, but also to the peculiarities of their structure. A different number of roots can be present in a wisdom tooth, the shape of which can also vary. In general, wisdom teeth are treated in the same way as everyone else. Why and in what cases is it recommended to treat them? The indications for saving the "eights" are:

Possible complications after the removal of the eighth tooth

Removal of wisdom teeth is considered one of the most difficult extractions (more in the article:). The operation itself is performed on a hard-to-reach area of ​​​​the jaw, in addition, there is a risk of developing serious complications.

If the surgery was successful, the patient may experience pain, swelling, fever and blood pressure for several days. In most cases, these unpleasant phenomena disappear without outside intervention, but there are a number of dangerous complications, the development of which should immediately seek medical help.

A wisdom tooth is an ordinary tooth, which in its structure is absolutely no different from others. Dentists call them "eights" - if the entire dental arch is divided vertically into two halves, then the wisdom tooth is the eighth in a row. Normally, a person has 4 wisdoms - above and below, one on each side. However, it is not at all necessary that all 4 erupt, despite the fact that the rudiments of these teeth are present. Like all others, eights are prone to diseases - pulpitis and caries - that's what will be discussed further. Location of wisdom teeth

Pulpitis and caries

The pulp is a bundle of nerves and blood vessels that is located inside the tooth. In the people it is simply called the nerve. Pulpitis is an inflammatory process that occurs in the pulp. This disease is quite common, and among all the most common problems with which people go to the dentist, pulpitis is about 20%. ,

The pulp is the last barrier between pathological bacteria and the periodontium, therefore, after the dental nerve dies, pathogens penetrate both the mucous and bone tissues of the tooth without obstacles, provoking various complications.

Regardless of the reasons that caused the disease, the development of pulpitis occurs in three stages:

• alteration - a primary change occurs in the dental nerve;
• exudation - blood flow is disturbed;
• proliferation - reproduction of cellular elements.

Moreover, exudation is more pronounced in the crown part of the tooth, and proliferation - in the root.

As for caries, it is the leader of dental diseases, it occurs in people of all age groups. This disease starts as a tiny spot and can lead to the loss of an entire tooth.

At its core, caries is the destruction of hard dental tissue, which occurs with the participation of microorganisms and the presence of food residues in the oral cavity. The disease develops in 4 stages:

• spot stage (white or dark) - the surface of the enamel remains shiny and smooth, there are no signs of destruction or defects in the enamel;
• superficial form - destruction of the surface layer is observed, while the dentin remains intact;
• medium form - the upper layers of dentin are involved in the pathological process;
• deep caries - complete destruction of dentin, including deep layers.

wisdom tooth pulpitis

The main role in the development of pulpitis is played by pathological microflora, which penetrates into the pulp through the dentinal tubules. For a long time, this process can penetrate without particularly striking symptoms, and then, under the influence of external stimuli, a neglected form of the disease can be detected - chronic.

Important! The sooner the patient turns to the dentist for a consultation, the more likely it is to save the tooth.

Causes

The most common cause of pulpitis is deep caries. The deeper the carious process progresses, the greater the likelihood of penetration of the pathological flora into the pulp.

Dentists distinguish the following ways of infection penetration into the pulp:

• complication of the carious process - through the dental crown;
• through the top of the root.

In some cases, pulpitis develops as a result of incorrect and unskilled actions of the dentist. As a rule, this is due to overheating, improper grinding of the tooth, accidental opening of the pulp, and so on.

Reference! Rarely, pulpitis can develop with trauma, this is more typical for the front teeth. As a result of impact, calcified concretions compress the pulp, which provokes the development of pulpitis.

Symptoms

The acute form of pulpitis is divided into focal and diffuse. In the first case, inflammation is localized in close proximity to the carious cavity. The patient complains of pain that occurs intermittently, mainly under the influence of various stimuli. At night, the pain becomes more intense. Pain sensations have an exact location, so the patient himself can point to the place of the pathological process.

If this symptomatology is ignored and the person does not go to the dentist, then in a day, the focal form becomes diffuse - that is, the root pulp becomes infected. In this case, the pain does not subside, and becomes stronger. In addition, it can give to whiskey, to the ears, to the entire jaw, to the eye sockets. When pressing on the figure eight, the pain can be very sharp and severe. If in this case the patient does not go to the doctor, pulpitis becomes chronic. This form is subdivided into fibrous, hypertrophic and gangrenous.

In this case, the symptoms may be as follows:

• prolonged aching pain;
• tooth reaction to cold and hot;
• reaction to pressure changes - sudden jumps in atmospheric pressure or when flying in an airplane;
• the patient cannot chew on the side where the damaged tooth is located.

Diagnostics

The initial method of diagnosing the disease is a visual examination, then, if necessary, additional research methods are prescribed:

• sounding;
• percussion;
• EDI - electrodiagnostics;
• tests for temperature changes;
• x-ray.

Important! With a purulent form of pulpitis, the tooth reacts strongly to hot water, and cold water, on the contrary, brings relief to the patient. Chronic and focal pulpitis reacts with pain to cold, and heat has a calming effect.

Treatment

Therapy for pulpitis of the wisdom tooth is as follows:

• pulp anesthesia;
• cavity opening;
• removal of dead particles of dentin;
• extirpation or removal of soft tissues;
• antiseptic procedures;
• filling of dental roots and tooth.

Important! For emergency care, you can take Efferalgan, Aspirin, Analgin.

Treatment of the chronic form consists in the removal of the pulp (complete or partial). In some cases, laser treatment is possible.

When is it necessary to remove a wisdom tooth?

To remove a wisdom tooth with pulpitis, there are the following indications:

• it is located horizontally to the dental axis;
• grown into the maxillary sinus;
• eruption has occurred, but there is no growth;
• complicated forms of pulpitis.

In all other cases, dentists try to save the tooth.

Complications

In the absence of proper therapy, complications of pulpitis can be as follows:

• flux;
• osteomyelitis;
• abscesses;
• phlegmon.

Important! It is absolutely impossible to postpone the treatment of pulpitis, because if you delay, you can not only lose a tooth, but also wait for serious and rather dangerous complications.

wisdom tooth caries

Wisdom teeth cause a lot of problems for a person - they can hurt during eruption, grow incorrectly, be located outside the arch, not erupt at all, and so on. And besides this, they are more prone to caries than other teeth.

Causes

The causes of wisdom tooth caries are no different from the causes of other caries:

• insufficient oral hygiene;
• too much carbohydrate food;
• genetic predisposition.

But there is one factor that can greatly worsen the situation - the wrong position of the tooth in the arch.

Reference! The main factor in the development of caries of the figure eight is the accumulation of plaque - an ideal place for the development of pathogenic flora.

Symptoms

In the early stages of caries, symptoms are not observed, however, when a large carious cavity forms, the patient develops pain under the influence of sweet, cold or hot. As soon as the irritant is removed, the pain disappears. Visually, you can notice a white or dark spot, which gradually increases in size. When the pathological process progresses, dead parts of the tooth can flake off, forming a carious cavity.

Diagnostics

It is important to distinguish caries from periodontitis and pulpitis. For this, differential diagnosis is carried out. With pulpitis, discomfort and pain are longer, the carious cavity is deeper, and when zoning, pain is felt at a specific point. As for periodontitis, in this case, percussion is longer, and obvious changes are visible on the x-ray in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe apexes.

Treatment

Therapy of a carious tooth depends on a large number of accompanying factors.

Important! There are much more indications for the removal of carious eights than for the removal of other teeth.

Caries treatment consists of the following:

• professional tooth cleaning;
• preparation - removal of all altered tissues;
• treatment with antiseptics;
• drying;
• filling.

In what cases is it necessary to remove a wisdom tooth.

A wisdom tooth with caries is removed in the following cases:

• no opposite tooth;
• too deep pathological process;
• caries has developed on an already treated tooth;
• the inability to reach the tooth for a full treatment.

Complications

As already mentioned, wisdom tooth decay spreads very quickly, which can lead to the following consequences:

• pulpitis;
• periodontitis;
• periostitis;
• osteomyelitis;
• abscess;
• phlegmon.

Prevention of pulpitis and caries

There is nothing new in the prevention of caries and pulpitis:

• meticulous oral hygiene;
• proper and balanced nutrition;
• timely treatment of dental diseases;
• regular preventive visits to the dentist;
• timely professional cleaning of teeth from plaque and calculus.

Only a qualified specialist can adequately assess the situation and make the right decision about the treatment of wisdom teeth. In some cases, it is more appropriate to extract a tooth than to treat it, but of course this depends on the individual case. In order not to provoke various complications, it is necessary to contact the dentist in a timely manner.

Eights or wisdom teeth appear in the oral cavity later than the other ones. Their eruption occurs approximately in the twentieth - twenty-first year of the patient. These dental organs often cause a lot of problems: either they erupt incorrectly, or they are very painful, or because of their proximity to the back wall of the jaw, the gums become inflamed. Wisdom tooth decay is also common. The eighth teeth are difficult to clean because of their distant location, which means they are most susceptible to this disease. In this article, we will consider what to do when the eight is affected by caries, and the features of these dental organs.

What is caries?

In dentistry, caries is characterized as a process of softening of the hard tissues of the teeth. Initially, this term meant a disease of the bone marrow, but due to the similarity of the clinical picture, it began to be used in relation to the process of tooth decay.

You can find out more about caries.

Clinical picture

With the appearance of caries on 8 teeth, there may be no symptoms at all. This is especially true of the initial stage of the disease. And already when caries corrodes a deep cavity, the patient feels acute pain on temperature and chemical stimuli, which stop as soon as the effect of the stimulus is completed.

The disease can be diagnosed through a routine visual examination using dental instruments. Probing is accompanied by high sensitivity where the enamel passes into the dentin. The bottom of the cavity is filled with a brown substance, which is formed from the dead dentin. If you tap on the tooth enamel, the patient will not feel pain.

Types of cavities from caries

With caries of eights, cavities, as with diseases of other teeth, can be of the following types:

• relative to the depth of the disease - , and ;
• regarding the anatomical location - caries of enamel, dentin, cement;
• by location - , .

Caries of the third molar is unique in that it can occur without symptoms, and the hard-to-reach location of such teeth often leaves them unattended until the disease reaches a deep site.

Reasons for the defeat of eights by caries

Wisdom teeth are located at the very end of the dentition, so cleaning them is quite difficult. It is not always possible to clean them well with a brush. This leads to the accumulation of plaque on the surface containing harmful cariogenic bacteria. In the process of their vital activity, the destruction of enamel occurs, and caries is formed. Caries is also promoted by carbohydrates eaten in large quantities (sweets and sour foods), insufficient vitamins, poor ecology, external adverse factors, the quantity and quality of saliva, and poor heredity.

Bad breath can accompany wisdom tooth caries, giving the patient an incredible inconvenience when in society.

The third molars may also not erupt completely, that is, the tooth may be half hidden under the hood. This further contributes to the occurrence of caries. After all, it is more difficult to clean such a tooth, and pieces of food can get stuck under the hood. So a wisdom tooth that has not been cut through to the end can already be affected by caries.

What to do if caries appears on the third molar?

It is important to know: Caries on any dental organ and at any stage is very important to cure, otherwise the entire oral cavity can become infected, which can cause infection of healthy organs.

And even the inconspicuous eighth tooth needs timely treatment of this disease.

It is important to get to the doctor as soon as possible if caries is found in the wisdom tooth. And before the visit, when you may be waiting for the day of the appointment, you need to rinse your mouth with antiseptics such as chamomile decoction, a solution of salt and soda, or chlorhexidine. If the pain is very disturbing, you can take an anesthetic (Ketanov, Analgin, etc.).

When you already get to the dentist, he will carry out treatment approximately according to the following scheme:

1. Getting rid of the affected tissues through a drill.
2. Disinfection of the cavity with an antiseptic.
3. Laying a special insulating gasket on the bottom of the cavity.
4. The imposition of a filling composite in layers.
5. Giving the tooth the desired shape. Work on tubercles and cavities, which should correspond to a healthy tooth.

Such treatment takes about half an hour, it is performed under anesthesia in order to avoid discomfort.

What is more correct: cure or remove?

Wisdom teeth are difficult to treat due to their deep location in the mouth. Yes, and not always in their treatment makes sense. The most frequent cases are when specialists remove the third molar affected by caries. They do this for three reasons:

1. This dental organ is considered to be of little functional in the oral cavity.
2. Its high-quality treatment is almost impossible, due to its inconvenient location, which can lead to.
3. The treatment is tiring for the patient himself, who will have to sit with his mouth wide open for a long time during the procedure.

Consider the cases when it is better to remove the eighth tooth:

1. The tooth is located unevenly in the dental arch.
2. There is no opposite unit, which makes this molar unnecessary and contributes to its rapid destruction due to lack of load.
3. Constant inflammation of the gums during teething.
4. Injury to the third incisor of the cheeks and tongue.
5. The presence of orthodontic pathologies, when the figure eight causes twisting of other molars during cutting.
6. Launched caries, if the dental organ is severely destroyed.
7. The occurrence of retention or dystopia, when the dental organ appears horizontally, at an angle, or remains in a semi-perforated state.
8. The presence of a strong gag reflex in the patient, or the absence of the ability to forcefully open the mouth.

The advantages of removing the figure eight are as follows: neighboring dental organs will not be subject to shifting and twisting, the infectious focus is removed with the removed organ, the patient gets rid of pain, and no re-treatment is required.

There are also disadvantages in removal: with a large absence of teeth, there will be no support for prosthetics, complications may arise after removal.

But in some cases it is advisable to treat a wisdom tooth. Indications for treatment are as follows:

1. Eruption in the right place without slopes and deviations.
2. The need for an eighth tooth for prosthetics.
3. Early stage of the disease.
4. The presence of the opposite organ, which will allow them to chew food.
5. Pregnancy, when tooth extraction is contraindicated, and it is important to get rid of the infection.

The disadvantages in the treatment of a wisdom tooth are: the possibility of secondary caries, the infection can be spread to other organs of the oral cavity, the occurrence of relapses leads to repeated spending of finances.

If the doctor has decided to cure caries of the eight, he can use one of two methods:

1. Conservative treatment when a drill is not used to remove affected tissues. Enamel is cleaned with special tools and restored with varnish or mineral solutions.
2. Excision of carious tissues, disinfection and restoration work regarding the anatomy of the dental organ.

Complication of the disease

If caries is not treated for a long time, the infection enters the deep tissues with damage to the pulp. So the pulp becomes inflamed, formed. With this disease, there is aching pain that occurs spontaneously. With pulpitis, it is required, and for wisdom teeth it is extremely difficult, since the roots of such dental units are rarely even, most often they are curved or twisted.

If you leave the treatment of pulpitis or ignore this disease, it will develop into a more serious illness - or granuloma. For this reason, caries should be treated immediately, without delaying a visit to the dental clinic.

How to diagnose caries?

To make a correct diagnosis, it is important to be able to distinguish between caries and other dental diseases.

Periodontitis is characterized by a change in the tops of the dental organ and positive percussion. And pulpitis goes away with longer pain, unlike caries. At the same time, the cavity with pulpitis is much deeper, and the pain is concentrated at one point.

Only a specialist can correctly diagnose. After a correct diagnosis, the most appropriate treatment is selected, which can only be carried out in a clinic.

Eight, affected by caries, must be urgently treated. Indeed, if left untreated, the infection can spread throughout the oral cavity and affect healthy dental organs. If you visit a doctor in a timely manner, you will be able to protect yourself from many problems. Before a visit to a specialist, rinsing the mouth with antiseptic agents will help, and severe pain can be drowned out with painkillers.

How to prevent caries?

In order to protect yourself from this disease, it is important to observe preventive measures.

Consider the basic rules, the implementation of which will protect against the onset of the disease:

• regularly brush your teeth with a toothpaste with a high content of fluoride;
• use dental floss to clean the interdental spaces;
• rinse your mouth with herbal infusions or antiseptics;
• follow all the recommendations of the dentist for the care of the oral cavity;
• eat less foods high in carbohydrates;
• eradicate bad habits, if any;
• regularly visit a dentist, who, in addition to examination, if necessary, will carry out professional cleaning, relieving teeth of plaque and tartar.

Subject to the above rules, it is possible to keep your teeth healthy and your smile snow-white, protecting yourself from the treatment of diseases for a long time.

Price

Treatment of the eight will cost almost twice as much as a simple tooth. The price varies from 2 to 6 thousand rubles, depending on the complexity of the work.

A simple wisdom tooth treatment costs from 3,000 to 3,500 rubles. It will be cheaper to remove it - from 1500 to 1800 rubles. And in difficult cases, with retention and dystopia, the cost of removal will be from 5 to 6 thousand rubles.

The treatment of eights is carried out both in private dentistry and in public clinics.

Related videos

Caries of the wisdom tooth in dental practice is quite common. It arises due to the distant location of the third molars in the dentition, which does not allow for a thorough hygienic cleaning. For the same reason, treatment becomes more complicated, therefore, with the development of caries on eights, their removal is recommended. The doctor should decide whether to perform filling or extraction.

The symptoms of caries on the wisdom tooth are identical to the signs of the development of the pathological process on other elements of the dentition and are characterized by the following features:

1. The appearance of a white spot on the enamel in the initial stage. A person does not have other symptoms, so the carious process usually makes itself felt already at the onset of a deeper stage. In addition, the distance of the eights does not allow timely notice of changes affecting their enamel. Therefore, after the eruption of wisdom teeth, it is necessary to visit the dentist 1-2 p. in year.
2. Gradually, the spots darken, painful sensations appear on various food (sweets, sour foods) and temperature stimuli. Discomfort is not always pronounced, so many put off a visit to the dentist, allowing pathogenic bacteria to penetrate deep into the tissues of the tooth, causing their destruction.
3. The middle stage is characterized by the formation of a cavity, which a person feels well when held over the affected element with the tongue. Food remains accumulate in it, and the process of putrefaction causes severe pain when eating food. From the oral cavity it is felt, indicating the transition of the carious process to the dentin. The crown of the tooth becomes brown.
4. In the future, the cavity expands, and short-term aching pains also appear when brushing your teeth. They disappear after the removal of the stimulus. At the reception, the dentist notes a strong destruction of the tooth crown.

Anna Losyakova

Dentist-orthodontist

Important! characterized by a high risk of developing pulpitis, so you need to consult a dentist at the first manifestations of pain in the third molar.

Causes

Doctors identify 2 main factors contributing to the development of pathology in the eights:

• the distance of location in the dentition, which complicates the implementation of a thorough wisdom tooth - a bacterial plaque forms on the outer shell of the third molar, which is one of the main causes of development;
• partial eruption or the duration of this process leads to the formation of a gingival hood, under which food grains fall - when they rot, the bacterial microflora increases, and the erupted tooth turns out to be carious.

In the wisdom tooth, caries can also appear under the influence of the following internal and external factors:

• Fixation of the orthodontic system on the figure eight in the absence of 6 and 7 molars in the dentition. The presence of such a design further aggravates the complicated process of cleaning the wisdom tooth, as it blocks the access of the brush under the prosthesis.
• The absence or insufficient amount of products in the menu, which contain vitamins that strengthen the immune system, and minerals that are responsible for the strength of the enamel. The weakening of the protective function of the body leads to a decrease in the resistance of enamel to the effects of carious bacteria.
• The presence of pathologies characterized by weak secretion of saliva or its complete absence. This phenomenon may be an adverse reaction of uncontrolled intake of certain medications. At the same time, local protection of the oral cavity is greatly weakened and the amount of pathogenic microflora increases.
• Smoking.
• Pathologies of the digestive system that increase acidity in the oral cavity. Elevated levels of acid destroy the enamel.
• Malocclusion.
• Wisdom tooth injury.

Anna Losyakova

Dentist-orthodontist

Important! Sometimes the cause of caries is the low thickness of the enamel, which is transmitted genetically.

What to do if caries appears on the wisdom tooth: treat or remove?

When a patient is diagnosed with caries of a wisdom tooth, then when asked whether to treat or remove the affected element, doctors often tend to the second option. Insufficient cleaning of the carious cavity will provoke secondary caries, so the procedure is considered a waste of money. Another factor confirming the correctness of this choice is the loss of the wisdom tooth of its functions. It is classified as a rudiment, so the absence of an element of the dentition will not affect the chewing ability of a person. Do wisdom teeth cure caries? Yes, there are some indications when a doctor may recommend treatment for an affected unit.

Caries on the wisdom tooth: treat or remove.

Indications for extraction	Indications for treatment
The impossibility of restoring the destroyed element of the dentition.	Pregnancy, especially in the I and III trimester, when the risk of complications for the mother and child is too high.
A large angle of inclination or horizontal tooth growth, which leads to injury and the development of inflammatory processes on the tongue and cheeks.	The initial or superficial stage of pathology with complete and correct eruption of the tooth.
Absence of an antagonist tooth on the opposite jaw. The lack of chewing load increases the rate of destruction of the third molar.	The figure eight acts as a supporting element when installing the prosthesis.
Incomplete eruption of the figure eight.	The presence of an antagonist tooth.

About the difficulties of treating eights

Difficulties in treatment are due to the following factors:

• the distance of location does not allow tools to reach the focus of caries and carry out its thorough cleaning;
• many patients are unable to sit with their mouth wide open for long periods of time or experience a gag reflex;
• the difficulty of passing through the tortuous root canals of the tooth with the spread of the carious process in depth.

Such difficulties often lead to the appointment of an extraction procedure, which will prevent secondary caries, subject to the rules for processing the oral cavity.

Complications of caries of the wisdom tooth

Untimely solution of a dental problem leads to the development of the following complications:);

visit to the dentist 2 p. in year;

enrichment of the diet with products that contain vitamins, calcium, fluorine and phosphorus, which help strengthen enamel;

limiting the consumption of sweets and flour products;

the presence in the menu of solid products that clean the outer shell of the teeth in a natural way;

avoid traumatic situations;

to give up smoking;

timely treatment of pathologies characterized by a violation of the secretion of the salivary glands and the digestive tract.

The prognosis depends on the time of the patient's visit to the dentist. There are no complications in the initial stages, so the chosen treatment procedure will prevent the spread of the carious process deep into the tissues and to neighboring elements.

Conclusion

Only 8% of the population does not experience caries of wisdom teeth due to non-eruption. For the rest, the problem occurs quite often, and in order to avoid serious complications, it must be solved at the first appearance of unpleasant symptoms. The choice of treatment method is determined by the doctor, but in most cases he will suggest the implementation of the extraction of the affected unit.