Dentistry

The Frequency of Dental Caries in Children and Young Adults

Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Centro Escolar University Graduation School Manila, Manila, Philippines
^*Correspondence: Sanghvi Migita, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Centro Escolar University Graduation School Manila, Manila, Philippines, Email:

Received: 02-May-2022, Manuscript No. DCR-22-17144 ; Editor assigned: 06-May-2022, Pre QC No. DCR-22-17144 (PQ); Reviewed: 20-May-2022, QC No. DCR-22-17144 ; Revised: 30-May-2022, Manuscript No. DCR-22-17144 (R); Published: 07-Jun-2022, DOI: 10.35248/2161-1122.22.12.581

Description

The dental caries reflects the health of the oral tissues and teeth. Our body's entire health and well-being are influenced by good oral health and healthy teeth. Aside from affecting nutritional status, poor oral health can have a negative impact on speech and self-esteem, as well as contribute to various dental disorders. Periodontal disease and dental caries are the two most frequent dental illnesses that impact teeth. Traditional dental disease treatment is a highly prevalent strategy in the early stages. Only when the therapy method becomes lengthy and expensive do patients become concerned. In India, where 70% of the population lives in rural regions and the dentist population ratio is 1:35,000, only one out of every five dentists serves the rural masses, there is an acute scarcity of resources in terms of labour, financing, equipment, and supplies.

Periodontal disease primarily affects the elderly, whereas dental caries primarily affects children and young adults. Caries is an infectious illness that causes destruction to the teeth's structures. It was classed based on three main characteristics: morphology, chronology, and dynamics. Pits and fissures, smooth surface, and root caries are the morphological divisions. Due to the development of deep pits and fissures that are vulnerable to food lodgment, pits and fissures caries are most common in young children. Smooth surface caries, on the other hand, is more common in middle-aged people, and occurs when food becomes stuck between teeth or in the interproximal areas. Where there is extensive gingival recession and exposed root surface, root caries is found in the older age range.

Caries is divided into two stages:

• Childhood

• Adolescence

Caries develops in bottle-fed newborns as early as infancy. Dental caries can be caused by prolonged feeding, especially at night. In the adolescent period, there is another period of acute exacerbation of caries attack. It is classified as rampant, incipient, arrested, recurring, and xerostomia-induced caries based on its dynamics.

Rampant caries are some of the most unpleasant dental caries clinical situations, characterized by rapid and virtually uncontrollable tooth deterioration. Clinically, incipient caries appears as a white opaque region that is most seen when the area is air dried. The incipient or even advanced carious lesion may be stopped if the oral environment is improved through adequate oral hygiene. If the caries under a restoration is not removed adequately, recurrent caries develops at the repair's contact. Radiation induced xerostomia, a disease in which saliva flow is reduced, is a common complication of radiography of oral cancer lesions. These patients develop dental caries as a result of xerostomia. This further demonstrates the importance of salivary secretion in the cleaning of tooth surfaces.

Cavities are the outcome of dental caries, which causes tooth decay. If cavities are not addressed, they can cause discomfort, infection, and, in the worst-case scenario, tooth loss. Dental caries is a disease that does not fit into any of the well-known pathological categories. In several ways, it is distinct from other pathological conditions. Because of it’s a cellular origin, the carious process cannot trigger an inflammatory response in enamel. It is a localized pathological process, not a tumor or a degenerative disorder.

The situation is more complicated in poorer countries. In societies who have maintained their traditional dietary patterns and behaviors, the prevalence of dental caries has remained low. However, an increase in dental caries has been documented in numerous emerging countries as a result of changes in living conditions and lifestyle brought on by industrialization. This is a serious condition, because an increase in dental caries in nations with low dental resources leads to pain, infection, and a significant number of untreated lesions.

Dental caries is very common in India, as it is in other developing nations, due to a lack of public knowledge among the general population. The rising incidence and prevalence of dental caries in India is posing a significant challenge to healthcare providers. According to relevant research, the relative improvement in general health contrasted sharply with the deterioration of oral and dental health in emerging countries. The rate is higher in cities than in rural areas. The researchers reported that 77% of children between the ages of 6 and 12 were impacted by caries in an epidemiological research. Gender distribution revealed that boys (80%) were disproportionately more affected than girls (73%).