[雙語]不是所有的蛀牙都需要鉆孔的

Many of us fear going to the dentist, and that fear is made worse by the dreadful prospect that on any given visit, you could be subjected to a whirring drill boring its way through your poor, hurty teeth.

人類普遍畏懼去看牙醫(yī)，有些人甚至有所謂的鉆頭恐懼癥，一想到要在自己的牙上用電鉆打孔，就害怕到不行。

But the findings of a seven-year study by Australian researchers suggest that many of us have nothing to worry about, with research into 'no drill' oral care techniques showing there's often no need for the traditional 'fill and drill' approach that has defined dentistry for decades.

但澳大利亞的科學家為期七年的研究表明，我們很多人都無需擔心。因為隨著口腔護理技術的發(fā)展，大多數人通常不需要傳統(tǒng)的“填充和鉆孔”方法來處理蛀牙。

"It's unnecessary for patients to have fillings because they're not required in many cases of dental decay," study lead author Wendell Evans of the University of Sydney said back in 2015.

對于患者而言，沒有必要進行補牙，因為在許多蛀牙病例中并不需要用到它們。”悉尼大學的主要作者Wendell Evans在2015年說，

"This research signals the need for a major shift in the way tooth decay is managed by dentists… Our study shows that a preventative approach has major benefits compared to current practice."

“我們的研究表明，牙醫(yī)需要更新自己對蛀牙的理解……與現行方法相比，預防性方法具有重大優(yōu)勢。”

The study was published in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology in 2015. According to the researchers, tooth decay is not the rapidly progressive phenomenon that dentists long believed it was.

他們的論文于2015年發(fā)表在《牙科和口腔流行病學》中。據研究人員稱，蛀牙其實不是牙醫(yī)長期認為的快速發(fā)展的現象。

Because dentists used to think decay was fast-moving, the conventional practice was to identify early decay, remove it immediately to prevent the tooth's surface breaking up into cavities, and fill up the hole that was left with filling.

過去認為齲齒是快速發(fā)展的，傳統(tǒng)的做法是確定齲洞后，立即將其移除以防止牙齒進一步腐蝕，并為挖出的空腔塞入填充物。

But decay is not always progressive, said Evans and his team, and even when it is, it develops more slowly than dentists used to think.

但是Evans和他的團隊說，齲齒并不總是漸進的，甚至即使如此，它的發(fā)展速度也比牙醫(yī)過去認為的要慢。

"For example, it takes an average of four to eight years for decay to progress from the tooth's outer layer (enamel) to the inner layer (dentine)," he said. "That is plenty of time for the decay to be detected and treated before it becomes a cavity and requires a filling."

“例如，從牙齒的外層(牙釉質)到內層(牙本質)，蛀洞平均需要4到8年才能完成。”他說，“時間充足，可以在出現齲洞并需要填充前，采取非侵入性的療法。”

Developing a set of protocols they call the Caries Management System (CMS), the researchers say tooth decay can be stopped, reversed, and prevented long before a drill comes into play.

他們開發(fā)了一套被稱為齲齒管理系統(tǒng)(CMS)的程序，研究人員表示，在進一步惡化前就可以停止、扭轉和阻止蛀牙。

Through assessments of decay risk, interpretation of dental X-rays, and risk-specific monitoring, signs of early decay that haven't yet created cavities are detected and treated with a high-concentration fluoride varnish, rather than resorting to more invasive means.

通過評估齲齒風險，利用牙科X射線的檢測并使用高濃度氟化物處理尚未產生空洞的早期齲齒跡象，而不是采用更具侵入性的方法。

Evan and his colleagues showed that decay risk was reduced by 30 to 50 percent among patients who received CMS.

Evan和他的同事表明，接受CMS的患者，繼發(fā)齲齒的風險降低了30%至50%。

"[The CMS] showed that early decay could be stopped and reversed and that the need for drilling and filling was reduced dramatically," said Evans. "A tooth should be only be drilled and filled where an actual hole-in-the-tooth (cavity) is already evident."

“[CMS]表明可以終止并逆轉早期的蛀牙過程，鉆牙和補牙的需求大大減少。”Evan說。 “只有在齲洞明顯時才需要電鉆。”

Patients also need to get involved to make the most of CMS, paying attention to their tooth-brushing skills at home, and restricting between-meal snacks and beverages that contain added sugar.

患者還需要遵守CMS，關注自身的刷牙技巧，并限制食用零食和含糖飲料。

But if you can abide by these rules and help make the system work, up to half of the cavities (and drilling) in your future could be eliminated, so surely it's worth making a few small sacrifices?

但是，如果你能遵守規(guī)則，未來可以減少一半齲洞，所以是否愿意做出一些小小的犧牲?