Non Carious Cervical Lesions in Adult

Almost 99 percent of people have a dental caries but not all of them are carious and this is what we call a noncarious lesion. A noncarious lesion or to be specific a noncarious cervical lesion are classified into three categories and these are: abrasion, it is a loss of tooth structure or surface due to mechanical origin or friction, attrition, it is a loss of tooth structure caused by wear and tear, parafunctional contact as well as mouth grinding or even normal chewing, and the last category is erosion, a loss of tooth structure of chemical or idiopathic origin.

Cervical lesion is a like a canal that lines in the subgingival surface with their sharp angles and wedge shape. When the dentin is already exposed you can feel sensitivity when every time you drink hot or cold drinks. So as early as possible treatment of cervical lesion is needed.

Having this kind of dental problem which is a noncarious cervical lesion will be the source of tooth sensitivity and esthetic problem. During the examination of the morphologic pattern of the lesion under an electron and tool maker microscope it is recommended that the eccentric occlusal trauma may defer to the loss of tooth structure in the cervical area of teeth. The existence of wear structures should not be ignored because later on it will cause a big dental problem.

A new category was introduced by Grippo2 to add to the classification of noncarious cervical lesion and this is the abfraction, it is a pathological loss of dental hard tissue like teeth and bone caused by resulting to exhaustion of enamel and dentin distant from the point of force application and occlusal forces.

Chewing and bruxing is considerably manipulated the wearing of the tooth structure. When too much pressure continually applied in the tooth surface or structures the enamel and dentin of tooth will later on wear out and cause tooth sensitivity. It is not the occlusal loading the primary causes of the development of noncarious lesions but instead the inner buccal and lingual cuspal inclines of the mandibular premolars are the one produced the highest pressure or trauma in the cervical region.

The most common teeth that are affected in maxillary or the upper teeth include the first premolars, first molars second premolars and canine. In mandibular or lower teeth, the first premolars still the most often affected, next is the second premolars, first molars and canines. Sometimes cervical noncarious lesion is caused by the clasp of the removable denture especially the metal one.

In order to have accurate information of clinical examination, probe tips are measured with a tool maker microscope at x30 magnification. The probes are the one use in identifying if there are some irregularities in the teeth and those irregularities is considered noncarious cervical lesion. Using a tool maker microscope is the best way to have a precise diagnosis and a correct treatment plan of the patient. Some tool maker microscope are attached to a video for record purposes.

All in all studies many factors contributes to the existence of non carious cervical lesion and without knowing its cause it might give us a big dental problem. And with our modern technology with the use of a tool maker microscope we can have an accurate clinical examination. Original article