Is it possible to get rid of tooth decay at home?

Getting rid of caries on teeth at home is a very difficult task, but from the point of view of the dentist it is completely unacceptable: the doctor would immediately say that you need to run to the nearest clinic and solve your problem there. And to a person who understands the very nature of this disease, it is obvious that caries is not just an infection, it cannot be destroyed with a simple pill or alcohol tincture.

There are cases when especially desperate (or desperate) patients try to scrape tooth caries off with emery paper or scrape with a steel needle. Others approach the solution of the issue even more sophisticatedly and try to whiten the darkened carious areas with bleach or hydrogen peroxide.

How effective and dangerous is this? And are there really effective methods to get rid of caries at home by yourself? Let's understand ...

 

Little about self treatment

Generally speaking, caries is somewhat similar to pathologies such as, for example, inflammation of the appendix, curvature of the nasal septum, or stomach ulcer. Only no one ever thinks about combing a comb on the nasal septum with a chisel or doing abdominal stomach surgery at home in front of a mirror. Caries for some reason, at home, many are ready to heal.

Get rid of caries, which is already clearly visible on the teeth, at home is impossible. Caries is the destruction of tooth tissue, first enamel, then dentin. Moreover, this process is irreversible: people's teeth are not restored, the enamel does not grow by itself, and removal of caries at home, alas, is possible only in the stories of village healers.

However, at the earliest stage of the disease, when caries is a bright white spot on the enamel (or slightly pigmented), you can really get rid of it yourself. But this is done only after consulting a dentist.

If you try to get rid of caries yourself, using folk remedies, grandmother's recipes or the advice of friends, then you can play up to the complications due to which the tooth will need to be removed.There are cases when, after such a postponement of a visit to the dentist and independent experiments, it was necessary to treat gingivitis and periodontitis against the background of a gum mucosa injury in the form of a chemical burn from “grandma's recipes”.

Caries in the staining stage are best seen in the mouth in the mirror on the front teeth. On the contact and oral surfaces of the teeth (as well as on the cheek - in molars) it is difficult to see such spots. Sometimes they just do not pay attention.

Especially acute pain at this stage does not occur (especially on the molars, to which cold air does not reach during breathing), and in most cases the doctor identifies the carious spot when examined. The term for which such a spot is formed, usually ranges from 3 to 12 months.

From a purely psychological point of view, patients who tend to look for ways to get rid of caries at home, almost always wait until the last and go to the doctor with acute or unbearable pain. In such cases, the time when the tooth could still be cured on its own, but under the supervision of a doctor, is already missed, and the doctor has at best to prepare the tooth and put a seal.

Feedback

“I tried different folk methods of caries. Tincture of propolis first, rinsed her mouth. No result. Radish with honey applied, about two months every day. Nothing happened, either. I tried to remove caries with bleach, ran into the hospital with burns of the gums and tongue. The doctor there looked at me as if she was insane. As a result, for half an hour I was drilled out caries and put a seal. The injection was not done, but there was no pain at all. In general, all games with folk recipes are my big folly. Now, if I see that a spot has appeared somewhere, I am going to the clinic right away, and for 800 rubles I solve all the problems. ”

Anna, Rostov-on-Don

And most importantly - the only truly effective method of dealing with caries at home means strictly following the instructions of the doctor after diagnosing the disease and determining the stage of its development. The doctor will make a conclusion about whether treatment is possible without any filling at all, evaluate the cariogenic situation in the mouth, treat the damaged enamel, prescribe the procedure for applying the necessary products at home. And then, conducting the treatment independently, the patient will have to go for check-ups with the stipulated regularity.

 

What can be done at home?

At home, there are two fairly effective ways to combat initial caries:

1. Treatment of the tooth with special gels that contribute to the restoration of enamel. Such an approach is possible and effective only in the early stages of caries development, when only the enamel is partially damaged and the disease has not yet affected the dentine.
2. Prevention of caries, when the teeth are not yet affected (or well cured), but the cariogenic situation in the oral cavity requires the use of additional measures of protection.

In any case, before applying remineralizing gels at home, the doctor must find all the areas on the teeth to be treated. Sometimes it also requires the preparation of such sites by special means.

It is very undesirable to simply buy gel at the pharmacy and start smearing it with a carious tooth, even if only with a stain at an early stage, since such treatment may be incomplete and insufficient. And therefore - ineffective.

Other ways of getting rid of caries are implemented only by a specialist.By the way, the procedure of applying the quite popular ICON drug today takes an hour and a half in the clinic and does not require any effort on the part of the patient. And the result will be even more reliable than when using remineralizing gels.

At home, the fight against tooth decay usually comes down to its prevention.

From the practice of the dentist

The modern ICON method for getting rid of caries in the staining stage allows one to solve the problem of initial damage to the enamel without the use of a drill in just one day. This is a micro-invasive therapy with minimal tissue damage in the demineralization zone. It is carried out without anesthesia and does not cause discomfort. It is used in relation to caries spots on the vestibular (external) and approximal (contact) surfaces - for each type its own set of the drug.

The essence of the technique is that after the removal of plaque, a dense pseudo-healthy enamel layer is removed, and a polymeric light-cured material is injected into the focus of tissue damage. Polymer resin seals the pores in the subsurface enamel, which gives a good result, and for a long time.The method of infiltration is based only on the use of chemical compounds without mechanical treatment of the tooth, which allows it to be actively used in children from 3 years of age. As with any technique, it requires mandatory monitoring and fixation of the result after a period established by an individual dentist.

 

Competent prevention of caries at home

Rules for the prevention of caries at home are numerous and are not limited to brushing your teeth twice a day. Warning methods of combating caries are divided into three groups:

• Systemic;
• Local;
• Additional.

Systemic prevention measures include:

1. Compliance with a competent diet with a minimum amount of confectionery and flour, necessarily the presence of dairy products, fish, fresh vegetables and fruits.
2. Avitaminosis warning.
3. Use of tableted preparations of fluoride and products with a high content of fluoride, including fluorinated water and salt (under the strict supervision of a dentist).
4. Arranging meals - avoiding snacks, meals at night (getting rid of this harmful night habit can really prolong the life of your teeth).
5. The rapid fight against somatic diseases that contribute to the weakening of the immune system.

In the same section, you can make control over the temperature of dishes - too hot and cold foods contribute to the appearance of microcracks in the enamel.

Local prevention methods include:

1. Brushing your teeth with the right pastes;
2. The use of special rinses and solutions for the treatment of teeth;
3. Cleaning teeth after eating with the help of threads, and only in the absence of them - the use of toothpicks.

And already to the additional measures of care for the teeth is the use of chewing gum for no more than 15 minutes and only after eating, as well as regular removal of the smoker’s plaque on the teeth.

In any case, for the prevention of caries, and even without signs of its presence on the teeth, you should definitely go for a visit to the dentist. If there are no damaged teeth and treatment will not be performed, such an examination will be inexpensive and painless. But it was during him that the doctor would be able to assess the cariogenic situation in the mouth, calculate special indices, correctly draw up a list of drugs that can be used for prophylaxis at home,and also will explain the rules for the use of tooth protection products and will select such a set of them that best suits the specific patient.

 

Means for protection from caries for every day

Means for combating caries in the home are quite numerous, and the choice of the desired drug can be quite difficult for an unprepared person.

Primarily selected toothpastes for brushing. Most of them are treatment-and-prophylactic, that is, they not only brush their teeth from the resulting plaque, but also supply enamel with macro- and microelements, contribute to the prevention of diseases of the teeth and gums. In fact, they also make it possible to get rid of the earliest manifestations of caries in the form of enamel demineralization, which may even be visually indistinguishable (but sometimes, for example, it gives out a regular feeling of mouthwash in the mouth).

To strengthen the enamel and brushing your teeth after treating tooth decay, you should buy toothpaste with fluoride and calcium. It is these substances that strengthen the enamel by direct contact of the paste with it. For this purpose, for example, toothpastes New Pearl Fluoride, Fluorodent, Colgate Maximum, Lacalut Fluor, Pepsodent.

In areas where there is a lot of fluorine in the water, it can be harmful to use paste with it because of the risk of an excess of this element in the body. Particularly should be monitored the use of such pastes by children - even children's pastes with a reduced amount of fluoride should be used very carefully. Much depends on the individual characteristics of the patient, the properties of the paste and some other factors - everything should be done according to the intended purpose and under the supervision of the dentist.

With the rapid abrasion of the teeth, pastes with low abrasiveness and high fluoride content should be acquired to restore enamel. You should be especially careful when buying a toothpaste with the teeth whitening function - often, such pastes simply erase plaque and then damage the enamel (that is, they whiten it due to the increased abrasive properties). Much more reliably the use of therapeutic and prophylactic toothpastes with an average cleansing ability, combined with a good brush and proper tooth-brushing technique.

It is useful for smokers to carry out professional dental hygiene and learn the same proper tooth brushing technique. Yellow plaque on the teeth, they usually arise precisely because of the wrong work with a toothbrush.

Pastes with antimicrobial enzymes also contribute to effective prevention of caries. But they should be alternated with the use of other pastes, because their regular use can not only save you from cariogenic bacteria, but also lead to disruption of the microflora in the mouth and the development of resistance to the enzymes by pathogenic microorganisms.

Threads for cleaning interdental space is useful to choose those that include fluoride. Among them are Paro Riser-Floss, PresiDENT, Jordan InBetween, but you can buy almost any that is available in pharmacies. Almost all of them contain mint flavor.

Rinse, protecting against caries, are also quite numerous, and their choice is also better to entrust the doctor. Very known conditioners Bionorm, Fluorodent, Elmex.

 

When home treatment only hurts

But most of the popular recipes for dental caries are frankly useless, and many are even harmful.

So, for example, rinsing the mouth with broths of herbs and other natural preparations - chamomile, sage, oak bark - has an anti-inflammatory effect, but it absolutely does not help to remove caries at home. The situation is similar with alcoholic tinctures of propolis, Sophora Japanese and simple alcohol or vodka - they can only disinfect inflamed gums or relieve pain.

But trying to get rid of caries with regular use of powdered milk or honey is frankly dangerous. Carbohydrates contained in them, only contribute to the growth of bacteria and lead to more intensive development of caries.

And in no case should you try to remove caries at home by mechanical or chemical methods. In the villages and in the army units it comes to the point that they try to clean the caries with an emery paper - it is obvious that even after going through such torture, in a couple of months the patient will find caries all there. Bacteria that once did their job will do it again, but on naked dentin or damaged enamel it is already much faster.

Previously, among the popular methods there was a way to get rid of teeth from caries with hydrogen peroxide.Such an effect practically does not give effect, but it can quite lead to burns in the mouth.

From dental practice

One of the colleagues had an epic case when a girl came to him with a literally burnt gum, tongue and inner surfaces of the cheeks. As it turned out, she tried to get rid of caries at home for 1 day and at the same time whiten her teeth with the “Toilet duckling”. When a colleague asked her if her ability to dissolve literally everything, including a steady plaque on a tile, caused her doubts, she replied that it was written on the can with the tool that it was safe for enamel.

 

Seeing the root: why are you so afraid of doctors?

To get rid of caries in one way or another at home is usually tried by those who are afraid to treat their teeth, remembering terrible dental drills in Soviet childhood, or those who simply feel sorry for money for filling. Both of these reasons break about reality:

1. Treat caries In clinics today, it is absolutely painless - modern technology allows you to clean damaged caries tissues without any unpleasant sensations, and with a deep defeat of the tooth, doctors do high-quality anesthesia.Exceptional cases when anesthesia does not work or it cannot be done are extremely rare, and it is just the same to fear that you will fall into these fractions of a percentage, that hoping to win the lottery.
2. Launched caries, complicated by pulpitis or periodontitis, is much more expensive to treat than caries in the initial stages of development. Therefore, a simple filling today is a good investment in health and protection of the budget from a significant hole in the future.

And most importantly: caries is a disease against which there are no effective folk remedies. Trying to treat it at home without the supervision of a doctor is the same as removing an appendix with scissors on the couch. Be prudent and use modern blessings of civilization, and prejudices about greedy dentists and sparks from the eyes in clinics leave those who are happy with those around them with black teeth.

The best thing you can do at home for the treatment of caries is to call your friends, choose a good clinic and make an appointment with a dentist. Take care of yourself!

 

Interesting video: preparation of the tooth with a drill in the treatment of caries

 

What is important to know about caries and its treatment at the dentist