[双语]不是所有的蛀牙都需要钻孔的

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.

人类普遍畏惧去看牙医，有些人甚至有所谓的钻头恐惧症，一想到要在自己的牙上用电钻打孔，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.

但澳大利亚的科学家为期七年的研究表明，我们很多人都无需担心。因为随着口腔护理技术的发展，大多数人通常不需要传统的“填充和钻孔”方法来处理蛀牙。

"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.

对于患者而言，没有必要进行补牙，因为在许多蛀牙病例中并不需要用到它们。”悉尼大学的主要作者Wendell Evans在2015年说，

"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."

“我们的研究表明，牙医需要更新自己对蛀牙的理解……与现行方法相比，预防性方法具有重大优势。”

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.

他们的论文于2015年发表在《牙科和口腔流行病学》中。据研究人员称，蛀牙其实不是牙医长期认为的快速发展的现象。

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.

过去认为龋齿是快速发展的，传统的做法是确定龋洞后，立即将其移除以防止牙齿进一步腐蚀，并为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和他的团队说，龋齿并不总是渐进的，甚至即使如此，它的发展速度也比牙医过去认为的要慢。

"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，从牙齿的外层(牙釉质)到内层(牙本质)，蛀洞平均需要4到8年才能完成。”他说，“时间充足，可以在出现龋洞并需要填充前，采取非侵入性的疗法。”

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.

他们开发了一套被称为龋齿管理系统(CMS)的程序，研究人员表示，在进一步恶化前就可以停止、扭转和阻止蛀牙。

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.

通过评估龋齿风险，利用牙科X射线的检测并使用高浓度氟化物处理尚未产生空洞的早期龋齿迹象，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，继发龋齿的风险降低了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]表明可以终止并逆转早期的蛀牙过程，钻牙和补牙的需求大大减少。”Evan说。 “只有在龋洞明显时才需要电钻。”

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.

患者还需要遵守CMS，关注自身的刷牙技巧，并限制食用零食和含糖饮料。

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，如果你能遵守规则，未来可以减少一半龋洞，所以是否愿意做出一些小小的牺牲?