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Do you know how to know if you have a cavity?
The dentist can tell you that pretty quickly.
I want to know before I see a dentist.
If you have Mountain Dew mouth, it’s pretty obvious. You’ll have gaping holes in the
sides of your teeth or black gunk.
I don’t have anything that obvious. I’m nowhere near being a candidate for the British
book of bad smiles.
If you have brown or black spots on your back teeth brushing cannot get rid of, you probably
have a cavity.
Are there any other signs?
Pain when you close your mouth centered on one specific tooth can be a sign of a cavity.
If there is radiating pain from one specific spot in your jaw, there is probably a cavity
there.
How does the dentist know if I have a cavity?
When they feel along the tops and sides of all your teeth after cleaning them, they are
feeling for the soft enamel that indicates a cavity.
But the enamel is all the same.
Enamel should be hard. Soft enamel is the first sign of decay, before the bacteria eat
a hole into the tooth.
What if a small hole hides something worse?
That is why they take X-rays. X-rays also reveal tiny cavities at the gum line that
have eaten into the tooth and cavities that form when bacteria seeps in under existing
fillings.
Fillings are supposed to protect the hole left behind when another cavity is removed.
And some bad dentists don’t properly kill the bacteria before putting it in. In many
cases, as your teeth wear on each other, the filling gets loose.
And they sometimes come out.
Before it comes out, it is loose, and bacteria find their way in.
So that’s how you can end up with a cavity under an existing filling.
And it is another reason for the X-rays.
If only it was crystal clear to me now.
If you’re concerned about the cost of an exam and fillings, just remember that a root
canal is ten times more painful and costly.
You’re as nagging as a toothache.