Laser Endodontics LLC - Mary Ann Choby, DMD, MS

In our office, we frequently get patients requiring root canal treatment caused by tooth decay. Surprisingly, many patients are unaware of what tooth decay is therefore many think that it's not there. The questions we get asked quite frequently is: what is tooth decay and what causes it? What can be done to prevent it? What is tooth decay? Tooth decay is damage that occurs when bacteria in our mouths create acids that begin to eat away at our teeth. This action leads to a hole in a tooth, also called a cavity. If not treated, tooth decay can cause pain, infection and possibly tooth loss. Our teeth have three layers: the enamel, the dentin and the pulp chamber. The enamel is the hard outer layer that is visible to the eye. The dentin is the middle layer and the third layer is the pulp chamber, this is where the nerves and blood vessels are located. The deeper the decay goes the more damage there is. What causes tooth decay? The culprits: bacteria and food. Have you ever no...

Using the indispensable information that a CBCT scan can provide, check out our recent resorption case study.  A 30-year-old male came to the office with pain in tooth #9. He wants to save his tooth. A conventional 2-D radiograph was taken but the diagnosis was not clear. A CT scan showed significant internal resorption in addition to a periapical lesion. No external resorption and no fracture lines were found. The patient was told that the resorption makes the tooth fragile and the prognosis is poor. Despite this, the patient wanted to save the tooth. The tooth was treated successfully and he has retained his tooth that would have otherwise been extracted. We are proud to share our cases with you. If you have any doubts as to the prognosis of a tooth of your patient, please let us help you save a tooth!