MOLAR PITS AND FISSURES

[Snobuni]

I was asking my partner to look at the gum around my back teeth today (oh how he suffers!!!), when he noticed that my back molars have dark lines running throught the fissures. He asked me what they were, and I had to admit that I really didn't know. They've been there for years and my dentist and hygienist have never said anything about them or tried to clean them. I just assumed that everybody had them.

So I did a search and found this on Wiki;

PITS AND FISSURES

Pits and fissures are anatomic landmarks on a tooth where the enamel folds inward. Fissures are formed during the development of grooves but the enamel in the area is not fully fused. As a result, a deep linear depression forms in the enamel's surface structure, which forms a location for dental caries to develop and flourish. Fissures are mostly located on the occlusal (chewing) surfaces of posterior teeth and palatal surfaces of maxillary anterior teeth. Pits are small, pinpoint depressions that are most commonly found at the ends or cross-sections of grooves.[31] In particular, buccal pits are found on the facial surfaces of molars. For all types of pits and fissures, the deep infolding of enamel makes oral hygiene along these surfaces difficult, allowing dental caries to develop more commonly in these areas.

The occlusal surfaces of teeth represent 12.5% of all tooth surfaces but are the location of over 50% of all dental caries.[32] Among children, pit and fissure caries represent 90% of all dental caries.[33] Pit and fissure caries can sometimes be difficult to detect. As the decay progresses, caries in enamel nearest the surface of the tooth spreads gradually deeper. Once the caries reaches the dentin at the dentino-enamel junction, the decay quickly spreads laterally. Within the dentin, the decay follows a triangle pattern that points to the tooth's pulp. This pattern of decay is typically described as two triangles (one triangle in enamel, and another in dentin) with their bases conjoined to each other at the dentino-enamel junction (DEJ). This base-to-base pattern is typical of pit and fissure caries, unlike smooth-surface caries (where base and apex of the two triangles join).

Anyway, I was wondering if this could be a contributing factor to my bb, I've tried to remove it with a dental pick but its impossible to remove. My dental x-rays showed no decay in these teeth.

Does anybody else have this?