How long does it take for a cavity to get realy bad?

Question

seee ive had a cavity for a long time and it just started to hurt and i wanna no when it will be too late for a filling or another words how long will it take for it to turn into a root canal (approx years)

Answer 1

If you have a cavity and it's hurting, you may already need a root canal.

As for how long it takes to get to that point, it depends on how big it was when it was diagnosed.  For example, if you go a few years without seeing a dentist, and they tell you you have a cavity, it may be just a little one, or it may have been there for a few years already; in which case it's probably pretty big.

Once decay gets through the outer surface, it can get to the point where it needs a root canal definitely in less than a year.  And when you are younger, you have bigger nerves, so the decay get progress to the nerve (when you need a root canal) even faster.

If the tooth ever bothers you when you are just sitting around, or throbs, or hurts for more than a few seconds when you get cold on it or chew or whatever, there's a very good chance you're going to need a root canal.

But get it fixed asap.  When little dental problems are ignored, they always turn into big dental problems.  

Answer 2

There's really no estimated time as to when a cavity can get 'really' bad.

ANY cavity is an issue and it depends on a number of factors as to when it may require further action than just a filling.

1) How long you've had the cavity

2) Can you see the tooth decay yourself?

3) Has any of the tooth chipped off

4) When was the last time you visited your dentist for a check up

5) Is the actual tooth hurting, or is it the surrounding area

ANY pain in ANY tooth is a bad sign. Any toothache needs quite urgent attention if you wish to save the tooth.

Remember, tooth decay may be there for years (if you haven't seen a dentist) and you may not have noticed it at all.

Tooth decay starts out as a 'white dot'. You may not even notice it, you may think it's plaque. Over time, if left without proper hygine care or a dental visit, it can turn into a 'black decay' which you'll be able to see. The black decay is what eats away the tooth. If it reaches the 'pulp' of the tooth, it may start to hurt, and once it reaches the pulp of the tooth, it's easy to contract an infection (an abscess of the tooth at the root of the tooth). Pain is usually the best indication that the tooth has become abscessed and treatment such as root canal (or if it's severe) Extraction needs to be done.

Infection in a tooth can be EXTREMELY serious. Please, don't let it go. I had three abscessed teeth, which I ignored (not having been to a dentist in 9 years- as i was literally petrified, and had panic attacks of sorts whenever someone mentioned a dentist to me, let alone tried to book me an appointment).

I had NO pain in one of my molars, yet I could see it was clearly decayed, and parts of the tooth had 'fractured' off.

With no pain, I read on the internet that it 'couldn't' be an abscessed tooth, as abscesses hurt like h**l.

Well, I was so wrong.

One day my cheek was incredibly swollen, but I left it (as there was no pain), second day still swollen, and was increasing in size, later that day my gums became swollen. Once again, no pain.

Third day, I realised I couldn't eat, let alone try and speak to anyone, and my mum booked an appointment at the dentist. She told him what had happened, and what it looked like and he ordered me to have an immediate xray and antibiotics.

I couldnt' see him till 6.30am the next morning for an emergency examination.

When I did, he saw the xrays. I did have three abscesses in 3 seperate teeth. There was still no pain, and I asked wether or not the xray was wrong (I was still majorly nervous and scared- so of course, I said stupid things!). He showed me that the abscess (the one that had caused the swelling) had infact started to eat away the bone in my jaw. An abscess like that, he also said could've EASILY turned within another day or two into scepticimia (blood posioning) or meningitis, leading to hospitalisation, and said I was extremeley lucky that I wasn't in a hospital already.

I had to have that tooth extracted immediatley and drained, and packed with special things to fight the infection and keep the area clean. You see, I had no pain -which he said is the case with SOME people. Don't believe everything you read.

He told me ANY pain is an indication that the pulp of the tooth (the nerves centre) has become infected.

If there's absolutley ANY swelling WHAT SO EVER (even in the facial tissue area- such as the cheek) that you HAVE TO SEE A DENTIST IMMEDIATLEY.

Never leave a decayed tooth untreated, especially if you can see it's decayed. The longer you leave it, the more treatment you'll have to go through, the more expensive it will be and the worse it will be.

Pain wise, extraction didn't hurt me, I didn't feel much pain at all. Even afterwards, but some people do feel pain. Make sure you take some pain killers, and see a dentist NOW!