dental caries

Dental caries
Dr.Baha, H. AL-Amiedi
Ph.D.Microbiology

Dental caries:
can be thought of as a chronic infection of enamel or dentine in which the microbial agents are members of the normal commensal flora. Lesions result from the demineralization of enamel or dentine by acids produced by plaque micro-organisms as they metabolize dietary carbohydrates. Once the surface layer of enamel has been lost, the infection invariably progresses via dentine, with the pulp becoming firstly inflamed & later become necrotic
Classification of Dental caries:
Dental caries can be classified with respect to the site of the lesion and diagrammatically in of lesion as
1- Bit and fissuer
2- Smooth Surface
3- Root surface
4- Recureent caries
Aetiology:
The main factors involved in dental caries are the tooth, saliva, supragingival plaque, the diet (especially sucrose intake) and the time necessary for caries development These complex factors can interact in numerous different ways, but certain pat-terns of interrelationships are more likely than others to result in the initiation and progression of carious lesions or healing of an early white spot lesion