The dental pulp is the part in the center of a tooth made up of living soft tissue and cells called odontoblasts and others. It's commonly called 'the nerve', although it contains many other structures which are not nerves. An inflammation of a pulp it is known as pulpitis. It is also the place where the blood vessels and nerve endings are located. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In medicine, the term soft tissue refers to tissues that connect, support, or surround other structures and organs of the body. ... An odontoblast is a biological cell that is part of the outer surface of the dental pulp, and whose biological function is dentinogenesis, which is the creation of dentin, the substance under the tooth enamel and ivory. ... Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation and may be referred to as the innate cascade. ... Pulpitis is an inflammation of the dental pulp. ... Nerves (yellow) Nerves redirects here. ...
Tooth decay is the destruction of the outer surface, or enamel, of a tooth.
Tooth decay, which is also called dental cavities or dental caries, is the destruction of the outer surface (enamel) of a tooth.
Tooth decay in pits and fissures may be differentiated from dark shadows in the crevices of the chewing surfaces by a dye that selectively stains parts of the tooth that have lost mineral content.