Treatment of caries in the interdental spaces | Caries treatment

Treatment of caries in the interdental spaces

Caries preferentially forms in places that are very difficult to clean. These include above all the interdental spaces (= approximal spaces). The removal of caries in the interdental spaces must be done from above.

Often this caries can only be made visible on X-rays. When looking at the rows of teeth from above, caries often cannot be seen with the naked eye. The caries is nevertheless removed from the top to the bottom.

It is very important that the caries is made completely visible from above so that the dentist can safely remove everything.The principle of ‘as much as necessary, as little as possible’ always applies to the removal of hard tooth substance. Unfortunately, the caries in the interdental space has often ‘infected’ the adjacent tooth with the caries. In this case, the caries is now removed from the side without destroying the tooth from above. In most cases, the filling is made of plastic and is adjusted to the color of the tooth. If desired, amalgam can be chosen for cost reasons, because a plastic filling requires a private co-payment by the patient.

Caries treatment during pregnancy

During pregnancy, a dentist can of course also be consulted for treatment of the teeth. However, this should not be done in the 1st or 3rd trimester of pregnancy, as the risk of possible consequential damage to the child is very high. Treatment in the 2nd trimemnon is always recommended.

Pregnancy-suitable preparations are used for anaesthesia. X-rays should not be used during pregnancy unless they are essential. However, amalgam must not be used for filling during pregnancy. After caries treatment, very good oral hygiene is very important, especially during pregnancy. Inflammation should be avoided in any case, because the use of antibiotics to fight inflammation is not allowed during pregnancy.

Pain during caries treatment

Caries treatment without drilling

Deep carious defects, which affect a large part of the tooth substance, cannot usually be treated without drilling. In such cases, the carious areas must be completely removed with the drill and the tooth must be filled with a replacement material. Caries treatment without drilling is, if at all, only possible for small carious defects.

The so-called “caries infiltration” is one of the most popular methods of caries treatment without drilling. In this method, the enamel in the area of the carious area is filled with a special plastic gel. The plastic gel introduced into the tooth enamel penetrates the tooth and prevents the further spread of the bacterial pathogens responsible for caries.