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Human teeth function to mechanically break down items of food by cutting and crushing them in preparation for swallowing and digesting. As such, they are considered part of the human digestive system. Humans have four types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars, which each have a specific function. The incisors cut the food, the canines tear the food and the molars and premolars crush the food. The roots of teeth are embedded in the maxilla or the mandible and are covered by gums. Teeth are made of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness.
A root canal is the naturally occurring anatomic space within the root of a tooth. It consists of the pulp chamber, the main canal(s), and more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the surface of the root.
Endodontics is the dental specialty concerned with the study and treatment of the dental pulp.
Toothache, also known as dental pain or tooth pain, is pain in the teeth or their supporting structures, caused by dental diseases or pain referred to the teeth by non-dental diseases. When severe it may impact sleep, eating, and other daily activities.
The pulp is the connective tissue, nerves, blood vessels, and odontoblasts that comprise the innermost layer of a tooth. The pulp's activity and signalling processes regulate its behaviour.
Pulpitis is inflammation of dental pulp tissue. The pulp contains the blood vessels, the nerves, and connective tissue inside a tooth and provides the tooth's blood and nutrients. Pulpitis is mainly caused by bacterial infection which itself is a secondary development of caries. It manifests itself in the form of a toothache.
Concrescence is an uncommon developmental condition of teeth where the cementum overlying the roots of at least two teeth fuse together without the involvement of dentin. Usually, two teeth are involved with the upper second and third molars being most commonly fused together. The prevalence ranges 0.04–0.8% in permanent teeth, with the incidence being highest in the posterior maxilla.
Dens invaginatus (DI), also known as tooth within a tooth, is a rare dental malformation where there is an infolding of enamel into dentine. The prevalence of condition is 0.3 - 10%, affecting more males than females. The condition is presented in two forms, coronal and radicular, with the coronal form being more common.
Dens evaginatus is a rare odontogenic developmental anomaly that is found in teeth where the outer surface appears to form an extra bump or cusp.
Dentin dysplasia (DD) is a rare genetic developmental disorder affecting dentine production of the teeth, commonly exhibiting an autosomal dominant inheritance that causes malformation of the root. It affects both primary and permanent dentitions in approximately 1 in every 100,000 patients. It is characterized by the presence of normal enamel but atypical dentin with abnormal pulpal morphology. Witkop in 1972 classified DD into two types which are Type I (DD-1) is the radicular type, and type II (DD-2) is the coronal type. DD-1 has been further divided into 4 different subtypes (DD-1a,1b,1c,1d) based on the radiographic features.
Dental radiographs, commonly known as X-rays, are radiographs used to diagnose hidden dental structures, malignant or benign masses, bone loss, and cavities.
Root canal treatment is a treatment sequence for the infected pulp of a tooth which is intended to result in the elimination of infection and the protection of the decontaminated tooth from future microbial invasion. Root canals, and their associated pulp chamber, are the physical hollows within a tooth that are naturally inhabited by nerve tissue, blood vessels and other cellular entities. Together, these items constitute the dental pulp.
Pulpotomy is a minimally invasive procedure performed in children on a primary tooth with extensive caries but without evidence of root pathology. The minimally invasive endodontic techniques of vital pulp therapy (VPT) are based on improved understanding of the capacity of pulp (nerve) tissues to heal and regenerate plus the availability of advanced endodontic materials. During the caries removal, this results in a carious or mechanical pulp exposure (bleeding) from the cavity. During pulpotomy, the inflamed/diseased pulp tissue is removed from the coronal pulp chamber of the tooth leaving healthy pulp tissue which is dressed with a long-term clinically successful medicament that maintains the survival of the pulp and promotes repair. There are various types of medicament placed above the vital pulp such as Buckley's Solution of formocresol, ferric sulfate, calcium hydroxide or mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). MTA is a more recent material used for pulpotomies with a high rate of success, better than formocresol or ferric sulfate. It is also recommended to be the preferred pulpotomy agent in the future. After the coronal pulp chamber is filled, the tooth is restored with a filling material that seals the tooth from microleakage, such as a stainless steel crown which is the most effective long-term restoration. However, if there is sufficient remaining supporting tooth structure, other filling materials such as amalgam or composite resin can provide a functional alternative when the primary tooth has a life span of two years or less. The medium- to long-term treatment outcomes of pulpotomy in symptomatic permanent teeth with caries, especially in young people, indicate that pulpotomy can be a potential alternative to root canal therapy (RCT).
Resorption of the root of the tooth, or root resorption, is the progressive loss of dentin and cementum by the action of odontoclasts. Root resorption is a normal physiological process that occurs in the exfoliation of the primary dentition. However, pathological root resorption occurs in the permanent or secondary dentition and sometimes in the primary dentition.
Pulp necrosis is a clinical diagnostic category indicating the death of cells and tissues in the pulp chamber of a tooth with or without bacterial invasion. It is often the result of many cases of dental trauma, caries and irreversible pulpitis.
Pulp stones are nodular, calcified masses appearing in either or both the coronal and root portion of the pulp organ in teeth. Pulp stones are not painful unless they impinge on nerves.
Regenerative endodontic procedures is defined as biologically based procedures designed to replace damaged structures such as dentin, root structures, and cells of the pulp-dentin complex. This new treatment modality aims to promote normal function of the pulp. It has become an alternative to heal apical periodontitis. Regenerative endodontics is the extension of root canal therapy. Conventional root canal therapy cleans and fills the pulp chamber with biologically inert material after destruction of the pulp due to dental caries, congenital deformity or trauma. Regenerative endodontics instead seeks to replace live tissue in the pulp chamber. The ultimate goal of regenerative endodontic procedures is to regenerate the tissues and the normal function of the dentin-pulp complex.
Tooth mobility is the horizontal or vertical displacement of a tooth beyond its normal physiological boundaries around the gingival area, i.e. the medical term for a loose tooth.
Tooth ankylosis refers to a fusion between a tooth and underlying bony support tissues. In some species, this is a normal process that occurs during the formation or maintenance of the dentition. By contrast, in humans tooth ankylosis is pathological, whereby a fusion between alveolar bone and the cementum of a tooth occurs.
Root fracture of the tooth is a dentine cementum fracture involving the pulp.
References
- ↑ Kamburoğlu K, Murat S, Yüksel SP, Cebeci AR, Horasan S (February 2010). "Detection of vertical root fracture using cone-beam computerized tomography: an in vitro assessment". Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 109 (2): e74–81. doi:10.1016/j.tripleo.2009.09.005. PMID 20031454.
- ↑ Babb, Rebecca, et al. (February 2017). "Axin2-expressing cells differentiate into reparative odontoblasts via autocrine Wnt/β-catenin signaling in response to tooth damage". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 1–9. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03145-6 . PMC 5465208 . PMID 28596530.