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Last posts on private forums:  sare  2008-06-16 09:56:33 matthew 2008-04-12 21:25:59 pieniadz 2008-04-12 20:52:26
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Last posts on private blogs: matthew 2008-04-12 21:25:17 mary 2008-04-12 19:27:47 |
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Lastly added medical terms:
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You are in: Main Page / Medical articles / Dentistry / Pulpitis
Dental pulpitis is a serious condition of the tooth which causes pain and swelling. Its two types: reversible and irreversible pulpitis become a consequence of bacterial inflammation in the pulp. The treatment may even involve an antibiotic therapy. The article describes symptoms of the pulpitis, its causes and forms of treatment.
Pulpitis is an ordinary toothache which, if untreated, leads to a serious infection. It happens when caries develops and reaches the dentin or if trauma makes it unable for the lympha and blood supply the pulp. This is usually caused by bacteria taking over the pulp and triggering inflammation. The pulp becomes more and more inflamed and the pressure which is created in the pulp exert pressure on the nerves and tissues around, this causes pain. The pain gets worse with time when inflammation gets more and more severe. It is also possible for a patient not to be able to localize the source of pain. It is an extremely hard to eliminate the inflammation in the pulp cavity because pressure is unable to dissipate through soft tissue around as lymph doesn't reach this area. In other words, it's very difficult to avoid pulpal necrosis. And even though the pain stops when pulp dies, the infection can develop further and spread to the ancillary anatomy.
The inflammation develops in two stages which are called:
- reversible pulpitis: the pulp may remain alive and not changed but this is possible only when the irritant is removed fast enough
- irreversible pulpitis: the damage to the pulp is irreversible and it triggers necrosis, usually the pain is severe and sharp, the tooth feels
The tooth should go through the endodontic treatment while the pulp is removed and replaced by gutta-percha cone. There's also an alternative in the form extraction of the tooth. This is usually done when there's not enough coronal tissue remaining after root canal therapy.
Symptoms
X-rays and clinical findings are essential to diagnose the disease, with pain being the main symptom. It is caused by the pressure of fluids building up inside the pulp chamber or root canal. In case of reversible pulpitis the tooth is painful when the tooth it exposed to cold or sweet stimuli. When pulpitis is irreversible pain occurs without being exposed to stimulus and lasts a couple of minutes or longer. The pain may stop for several days, however, the infection develops further and the tooth becomes sensitive to pressure and percussion. An abscess of the tooth elevates it and it becomes painful for the patient to bite down. The pain usually worsens when lying down. Swelling of the cheek is also possible to happen for a patient affected by pulpitis.
Treatment
The treatment involves repairing the damaged tooth and performing root canal therapy or extracting it. Endodontic therapy involves opening the tooth and removing the pulp, canal system is cleaned and replaced by gutta-percha. If somehow a patient has signs of infection after the canal root therapy e.g. slightly raised temperature oral antibiotic course is prescribed.
Added by:
mary
not connected with health care system
Added on:
2008-11-05 11:29:23 ,
Updated:
2008-11-05 11:32:49
Bibliography:
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