The dental world is really changing since for the past thirty years, the reduction of dental caries or simply known as tooth decay has remarkably reduced. While in the past, a child with tooth decay is just a common transition, now a child having a complete set of baby teeth without going pass the process of painful gum problems is now the new trend. The use of fluoride in public water supplies, improvement in awareness of people about oral hygiene, and in dental practitioners' dental equipment come a dramatic change not only with children oral hygiene, but for adults as well.

However, tooth decay is still a remaining problem that may also be difficult to solve for some people regardless of their situation. There may be difference conditions, but some are still inflicted with it. Nearly one-fifth of children of children age's two to four have some detectable caries, and by the age of seventeen, four-fifths of young people have already experienced a cavity. For adults ages thirty five to forty five, more than two-thirds have lost at least one permanent tooth due to dental caries while older adults usually suffer from root caries. There are also large portions of the population in which dental caries remain a huge problem. These portions go for the economically underprivileged, older people, chronically ill, institutionalized people, and minority of children.

So how does one get dental caries? The process of course starts with people ignoring the proper way of taking care of their teeth that may result in the destruction of tooth structure because of some acid-forming bacteria. It will first begin on the outer surface of the tooth and then will move forward through the dentin to the pulp.

The problem nowadays when it comes to dental caries is that the distribution and pattern is constantly changing and the rate of lesion progression through the teeth is also going slow for most people. In order to do proper diagnosis these days' dental practitioners have changed their dental equipment to a more advanced one that makes the detection of dental caries simpler. One product that is useful for most dental practitioners is the Spectra TM Caries Detection Aid . It can easily detect images using its digital capabilities.

Technologically advanced dental equipment can help in preventing and curing caries before they even fully developed. But even with the latest development in dental equipment, it is still important to continually educate patients on preventive ways to get caries. Patient education still is the best defense since they can easily do preventive measures to help themselves.