Going to the dentist is one of the things that anyone dreads. It is just so simply unpleasant to experience the hygienist and dentist working in your mouth so it is no wonder you dread having to go to the dentist. When your appointment approaches, you look for ways to get out of it but that only causes you have to delay the inevitable once again. Therefore, it is better to get it out of the way and not have to deal with it for a while until you have to do the next time. And if you take good care of your teeth, then a trip to the dentist does not have to be so terrible.
However, you must not skip your dental appointments no matter how tempted you are to do so. Even if you are taking excellent care of your teeth by limiting your sugar intake which can cause cavities. Even if you are brushing and flossing on a regular basis, you still have to go for a dental cleaning. Cavities can still happen for other reasons. Because if you don’t go to the dentist and neglect any cavities that you may have, then you will end up with many problems as a result of the ignored cavities. Let’s take a look and find out what happens if you ignore a cavity in your tooth.
Your Tooth Could Fracture
Fractures in teeth due to neglected cavities are common. That is because when your tooth is decaying which is what the cavity is, then your teeth are more susceptible to split. Therefore, you will find that if you are chewing something with the tooth that has a cavity, a piece of that tooth may end up coming away and you will be regretting not going to the dentist after spitting out a piece of a broken tooth. It is unusual for healthy teeth to split unless the enamel has worn off which can happen as well for a variety of reasons. Worn down enamel is not the same thing as a cavity.
Your Nerves Could Be Damaged
Have you ever seen a picture of a tooth? There is a tube that is thin and hallow that is in the middle of each tooth that contains the blood vessels and nerves. Therefore, when the nerve is affected by the decaying tooth, then you can expect to be in a lot of pain. You may at first experience annoying discomfort that is mild but does not end to serious pain that does not go away as the decay ends up burrowing deeper into your tooth. That is when you would have no other option than to go to the dentist because the pain is too much for you to handle. You don’t want it to get to that point.
Your Teeth May End Up Dying
If the nerve is so infected to the point that any blood supply is cut off, that will end up killing off the tooth. You will know when the tooth dies by no longer having the pain that you did. Therefore, it is not that the situation is any better in your mouth when your nerve pain is gone. Your tooth is dead and will either fall off on its own or needs to be extracted. That is because you could end up with other serious consequences if you don’t take care of it which will be discussed next.
You Could End Up With A Serious Infection
When your tooth dies, there is dead tissue left behind and that can increase your chances of developing infections and abscesses. That is because the bacteria and other toxins from the tissue that is dead will end up infecting the root’s tip and that first results in severe inflammation. And then the infection can move to the bottom of the mouth and can move to your jaw. You could end up with a fever and even though it is rare, you could end up with an abscess in your brain which would be life-threatening.
Therefore, after learning about what happens if you ignore a cavity in your tooth, you will want to go to the dentist every six months to get that cleaning done as well as that dental checkup. You can handle an unpleasant hour if that means it will save you from serious problems from happening!
