preview

How to Treat a Stained Tooth Fissure

Better Essays

Introduction

The morphological configuration of the occlusal surface of the first permanent molar is the most vulnerable and susceptible tooth surface to dental decay and the incidence of caries on these surfaces is still rising. There are occasions where the fissures of these teeth are stained and at the time of deciding the appropriate treatment the question arises whether we should or we should not treat them. When there are dentists that think that seal over a stained fissure is the right treatment choice, there is evidence suggested by others that a stained fissure should not be treated as a sound fissure.

There are teeth with questionable or suspicious occlusal surfaces, in which we can notice that there have been changes from the clear sound fissures even without loss of surface and it is dubious to decide whether or not it should be treated as it could be an incipient but not cavitated fissure. A stained fissure means a fissure that is discoloured, brown or black, even an area of white or opaque enamel where its normal translucidency is lost but it has no evidence of surface breakdown (cavitation). Discoloured fissures does not necessary indicate an active caries process and they may represent sounds surfaces (where the discolouration descends from organic material trapped in the fissure) or non-cavitated caries lesions (where the demineralised enamel has been stained and possibly arrested).

It is doubtful if a discoloured fissure expresses generally a viable

Get Access