Part 1: Outline a current problem in population oral health within a specific context. Expected length is 1,000 words and forms the basis for part 2 of assessment 1. Describe the dimension and...

TOOTH DECAY- DENTAL CARIES
Table of Contents
Part I:    3
Outlining a current problem on dental caries in population    3
Part II: Dental caries    4
Introduction    4
Epidemiology    4
Aetiology    5
Symptoms and Diagnosis    5
Treatment and Prevention    6
Conclusion    6
References    8
Part I:
Outlining a current problem on dental caries in population

· Dental caries is the most common chronic disease worldwide, which results in bad breath, yellowing of teeth and cavities ultimately leading to sensitivity and intense toothache.
· The prevalence of Dental Caries is common in children due to their having more of the sugary products but also is well pronounced in the elderly population due to the loss of the attachment of the teeth by weakened gums or prosthetic gums.
· It is also more prevalent in the people having dry mouth or prevalence of any of the bacteria in the mouth more like the Lactobacillus , Streptococcus mutans and so on which is responsible for causing the dental caries.
· In severe cases of dental caries and rapid spread of the infection, the people might even lose their entire teeth.
· Usage of fluoride toothpastes and oral hygiene education has substantially reduced the number of prevalent cases of dental caries in the developed nations.
Part II: Dental caries
Introduction
Dental Caries is a biofilm-mediated, sugar-driven, multifactorial, dynamic disease, which result in the phasic demineralization as well as remineralization of dental hard tissues (Pitts et al. 2017). Tooth decay is the most common problem of the teeth, the dentists need to deal with, which causes cavities inside the teeth leading to the degradation of the tooth surface or its enamel by the decay-causing bacteria producing acids, which eventually degrade the hard covering of the outer surface of any tooth it is residing upon. It can cause unbearable pain in the tooth, infection and ultimately the tooth loss. This can happen to people at any stage of life- from childhood onwards. Young children are mostly at risk for having early childhood caries, which is called Baby Bottle Tooth Decay severely affecting their tooth at the childhood. In the elder population, it is also prevalent due to receding gums allowing the bacteria to come closer to the roots and get the cavities more rapidly (Frencken et al. 2017).
Epidemiology
According to Pitts et al. (2017), the epidemiological studies of caries have been occurring in the past several decades and have led to the production of comparable data by the WHO and other organisations worldwide. Dental caries and tooth decay as a result have been considered as the most common chronic childhood disease throughout the world and is more prevalent amongst the children of 2-5 years of age on an average. According to Peres et al. (2019), it affects more than 3.5 billion people around the world and is more prevalent in the developed and developing nations with poor oral hygiene.
A previous study by Balsaraf and Chole (2016) has shown that dental caries was a major health problem in the children of all the developing nations and affected around 60-70% of the children population as well as a wide majority of the adults. A decade back, it had been the most common oral disease in several Asian and Latin American countries, whereas it was less prevalent in the African countries. Various studies in the last decade, have shown a gradual decline in the dental...