Pulpitis Progression Analogy

See Illustration Above

Pulpitis Progression is like the progression of a house fire. Where by the fire is the plaque imbalance/infection. The smoke alarm is the nerve of the tooth and the fire brigade is the dentist.

Imagine you are cooking and have become distracted leaving the room. A fire has started, and the smoke alarm has gone off alerting you to the stove. You call the fire brigade they come and put it out. The pan and some of the walls are now burnt. A little bit of damage but it is fixable because you caught it early. This is similar to reversible pulpitis, usually in that case a filling usually works.

Say you ignored the first couple of smoke alarm sounds, now the second smoke alarm has kicked in. It is louder and even more irritating this is like irreversible pulpitis. Say you have ignored that one too. Now the alarm has melted from the flames, and it is no longer being annoying (this like pulp necrosis). So, you forget about it until you notice smoke coming from the room (this is just like noticing a small swelling in your mouth). You come into the room and now half the house is on fire. You call the fire brigade who come and help put it out. As a result, you have lost some of your house structure. In these situations, you require either root canal treatment or tooth removal. Which depends on the extent of damage.

Say you have ignored all the alarms and smoke. But now you can see the flames and feel the heat. You notice that it is spreading to neighbouring houses and the bushland. You need to contact the fire brigade as soon as possible. As the fire can now cause serious issues elsewhere. These situations require urgent dental treatment, possibly antibiotics and hospitalisation.