The concept of a rotten tooth is not defined in dental textbooks. However, intuitively everyone understands that it refers to diseased teeth, most often affected by caries. Dentists will always look for other oral lesions too.
What is a rotten tooth?
It is difficult to define a rotten tooth. It is most often described as a result of poor oral hygiene that leads to the development of deep caries. This is accompanied by toothache, soft tissue inflammation, and inflammatory factors produced by gum cells that often activate the immune system, which can lead to some systemic changes.
Symptoms of rotten teeth
Depending on how far the lesions extend, the list of symptoms may be longer or shorter, often including nonspecific features.
- Headache, pain in the temporomandibular joints.
- Localized toothache and radiating pain of adjacent teeth, gums, or even the jaw or mandible.
- Discoloration, changes in the tooth texture, and the appearance of visible cavities.
- Bad breath, which is not helped by increased care for hygiene.
- Frequent and recurrent gum diseases, oral mucosa, etc.
With extensive lesions, a large number of bacteria from the oral cavity may also cause systemic symptoms with rotten teeth. The general poor condition of the patient may indicate that the internal organs have been weakened.
Causes of rotten teeth
There can be several causes of rotten teeth and very often they coexist with each other.
- Genetic conditions – some people simply have a more delicate tooth structure.
- The use of certain medications may weaken the structure of the enamel.
- Lack of care for oral hygiene, use of improper paste, allowing plaque and tartar to form.
- Errors in former root canal treatment or other poorly performed dental procedures.
Bite defects or even wearing braces are also some risk factors, but regular check-ups during orthodontic therapy almost entirely eliminate the risk of dental and periodontal diseases.
Ways to treat rotten teeth
Rotten teeth are treated in various ways, depending on the specific ailment.
Root canal treatment
It is carried out if the diseased tooth is damaged very deeply. During root canal treatment, the tissues filling the tooth and the bacteria multiplying there are removed. In this case, the tooth will remain dead, but the lesions will not spread.
Caries Removal
Conservative treatment can be performed if dental diseases have not yet developed to an extensive form. Current technologies allow even quite extensive procedures to be carried out, which end with the placement of appropriate fillings, tightly closing the damaged teeth.
Tooth resection
If the diseases develop for a long time and the teeth are already very damaged, they can be extracted. This is the last suggested procedure, used when others do not promise improvement or would be at high risk of failure and at the same time cause considerable discomfort.
Untreated rotten teeth – what diseases can they cause?
It is not true that a rotten tooth is a problem only within the oral cavity. Bacteria from decayed teeth can, after some time, move quite freely throughout the body, causing extensive damage.
- Oral health is the first to be compromised. Caries infect subsequent teeth, gum diseases and sometimes also bone tissues appear.
- Damages to the mucous membranes occur more often and they take longer to heal.
- Cardiovascular disease, the risk of developing atherosclerosis, and the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes have already been associated with rotten teeth.
- Bacteria that can infect the whole organism can cause sepsis and death. It is a drastic result of rotten teeth, but these are by no means only theoretical consequences.
- The temporomandibular joints are attacked quite quickly, which causes the appearance of radiating pains in the anterior part of the skull.
Depending on individual conditions, non-specific risks also appear and sometimes the risk of developing other systemic diseases increases.
Does a rotten tooth poison the body?
It is a shortcut, but yes bacteria that attack diseased teeth can attack the whole body over time if they enter the circulatory system.
Rotten teeth cause hair loss – is it possible?
Yes, such a hypothesis exists. Hair loss would be just one symptom of the immune cells’ disorientation that occurs when bacteria from the mouth begin to enter the bloodstream.
Why should you not be ashamed of rotten teeth in front of the dentist?
For the dentist, rotten teeth are a regular sight. Even if the stage of yours is serious, it will probably not be anything new for an experienced dentist. Also, the reason is not always improper oral hygiene, and dentists at the HCentrum clinic are well aware that things are rarely black and white. Also, the crowning argument is that if you do not visit the dentist, you may have to use the services of several other specialists later on. You must be aware that a professional dentist never takes such problems personally. When a patient with a rotten tooth shows up, it is not a problem, but only a chance to use the knowledge acquired over the years, so the subsequent visits can only be a routine.
