Dental Treatment Options For Type II Dentin Dysplasia
Dentin dysplasia is a rare genetic condition that affects the dentin of your teeth. Dentin is the hard tissue that forms the core mass of a tooth and is coated in protective enamel. In the milder type II form of dentin dysplasia, the roots are largely healthy but the dentin is weak. This weakness can cause tooth decay, damage or the outright loss of teeth. Seeing a dentist early and often can minimize this damage.
Here are your dental treatment options for type II dentin dysplasia.
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns involve your dentist putting an artificial cap over your teeth that will protect the interior sensitive tooth root from exposure due to enamel erosion. The crowns can either be metallic, which is the cheaper option, or enamel colored, which looks more realistic.
Crowns are relatively minor dental procedures about on par with getting a tooth filling. This procedure can also be done on as many or few teeth as you need capped. The crowns do require a certain degree of tooth material to still exist for the bonding, so crowns don't work as well on teeth that have suffered a great deal of decay.
Root Canals
Having strong roots doesn't necessarily equal having healthy roots. The deteriorating dentin can allow more oral bacteria to access the interior root canal, which can cause inflammation and discomfort. A simple root canal procedure can fix this problem.
Your dentist will take off the natural crown on your tooth and scrape out the infected material. A cleansing wash is then used to further protect from recurrent infections. An artificial crown is then put over the tooth to protect the root.
Dental Implants
Your existing tooth might prove to be too unstable for a crown to offer complete protection to the root. If your tooth has already suffered large amounts of dentin decay, your dentist might recommend extracting the tooth. In that case, a dental implant might be used as a replacement.
Dental implants are a two-part system including an artificial tooth root fused to the jawbone and an artificial tooth that snaps on top of it. This leaves you with a sturdy, relatively natural feeling tooth replacement.
Ultimately, patients with type II dentin dysplasia should maintain regular dentist appointments to monitor the progress of any fully natural teeth and any dental replacements. Dentin problems will likely continue throughout your life but vigilance can reduce the number of serious dental issues you suffer.