Your Dentist Found A Cavity—What Happens Next?

Good news at a routine dental exam can certainly be welcome. By keeping up with smile care on a regular basis and making smart diet decisions, you can lower your risk for cavities and expect to receive positive feedback during regular appointments. If an issue is found, you should know that the right treatment can be recommended and provided to make sure your smile is fully restored. At our Virginia Beach, VA dentist’s office, we can provide recommendations for care based around the state of your tooth. Whether you have a small cavity or a more serious problem with decay, we can provide treatment that offers long-term protection and the preservation of your smile!

A Cavity Will Keep Growing Until It Is Professionally Treated

Until you do something about the problem, a cavity that has already formed will keep growing and doing harm to your tooth structure. The damage that continues to occur will eventually cause problems that are serious enough to put you at risk for the loss of your tooth and other problems with your health. If the decay is caught early, treatment can take place in time to make a more conservative approach to restorative dental work possible. However, if you have a larger cavity, we can do the work to completely take care of your oral health and maintain an appearance that gives you confidence.

Receiving A Dental Filling Or Dental Crown To Protect Your Tooth

When you undergo an evaluation, you can learn how much harm a cavity has done to your tooth and what kind of care is appropriate. A filling is used when a smaller cavity is treated. Yours will be applied directly at the site of decay to provide protection and prevent complications. In addition to offering support for your bite and keeping the treated area of your tooth safe from an infection or further harm, your filling can effectively match your tooth structure and preserve how you look. At a time when there is more damage than we can treat in this way, we can use a dental crown that surrounds your tooth and provides full coverage. This treatment approach is important for keeping you safe from further harm at times when teeth are left more vulnerable by a cavity or injury.

Why Cavities Sometimes Require Root Canal Therapy

When too much time passes, a cavity will eventually cause an infection to occur within the tooth structure. At this point, full treatment will call for root canal therapy. Through this service, we can remove an infection within the tooth structure before sealing your pulp and preparing you for the receipt of your crown. While cavities can be painless at first, the onset of an infection can make problems more difficult to overlook, as you can experience discomfort, observe swelling around the tooth structure, and even potential changes in your tooth’s color!