Caries is the clinical word for tooth decay, the disease behind every cavity.

In kid words

"Caries is just the dentist word for cavities, the little holes sugar bugs try to make in your teeth." Keep the tone light and matter-of-fact, the same voice you would use for any other word heard in the chair. Brushing, rinsing and regular visits are how we chase the sugar bugs off before they get the chance.

The parent version

Caries, also called dental caries, is the clinical term for tooth decay, the disease process that damages a tooth over time. A cavity is the visible result, the hole left behind once decay has worn through the outer enamel. If a chart note ever says "carious lesion," it means the same thing as a cavity, just written in the more formal language dentists use with each other.

Mainstream dental guidance treats caries as largely preventable, tied to the everyday mix of bacteria, sugar and time that every mouth deals with, not to anything a family did wrong. What that means for one specific tooth, and what comes next if one is found, is something to ask your pediatric dentist about at your child's next visit.

Where you might hear it at our office

Caries is the whole reason preventative care sits at the center of how we practice, not off to the side as an extra. Regular checkups, fluoride treatments and dental sealants all exist to interrupt the decay process long before it reaches the point of an actual cavity, since catching the earliest signs is so much simpler than repairing a tooth afterward.

If decay has already reached a tooth by the time we see it, our tooth-colored fillings are built to treat exactly that, keeping as much of the healthy tooth as possible. Either way, the plan is always explained in plain language before anything happens. Caries is just one entry in the full Kids' Dental Dictionary, there for the next unfamiliar word a visit turns up.

Related words

A few words that tend to travel alongside caries: cavity, decay, enamel.