Which electric toothbrush is better?

Okay, because you asked.

When the topic of electric toothbrushes comes up there are two big questions that I always get asked.

Questions.

#1 Do I need one.

#2 Which one is the best.

Answers

#1 No. You do not need an electric tooth brush. If you are a diligent brusher then it does not really matter if your tooth brush uses batteries for power or uses you for power. The results can be the same. This is not to say that the results will be the same in the same amount of time. Because they wont. The manual tooth brush will take a little longer but it is capable of doing the same thing.

# 2 This question is like asking which car is the best. Well, a Ferrari is the fastest and looks the best, but a Toyota Camry will do you just fine. The same is true for tooth brushes. There are tooth brushes out there that can run you over $300. They have timers to tell you when to stop. they will talk to you and tell you to switch sides of the mouth. They have pressure sensors to tell you if you are brushing too hard. And they look really cool. However, the electric toothbrushes that cost $10 can do just as much for cleaning your teeth. The whole idea behind cleaning your teeth is just to get the bristles to remove the plaque. Little timers are nice but if you are capable of getting your teeth clean without a timer then what is the point.

So what do I use?

I use an Oral B electric. I like the way it feels when it cleans and it seems to work well for me. My wife uses a Sonicare, and can't stand my Oral B. Conversely I have used her Sonicare and that thing drives me up the wall. So there is a lot to be said here about personal preference.

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Its called pericoronitis

That's right. You may have a Pericoronits.

It simple terms it is a little flap of skin that is hanging over the top of your last tooth.

Or it may be that the tooth isn't all the way in yet and its half covered by tissue.

Whichever it is, this tissue will tend to get inflamed from time to time.

When it does get inflamed chewing can become very painful.

The problem can be helped by swishing with a mouthwash and ridding the area of debris.

But this is only a short term solution.

What is the long term solution?

# 1 You can get the tooth that is partially erupted taken out.

That works well if the tooth happens to be a wisdom tooth.

But not so well if it happens to be a normal molar.

#2 You can get the tissue trimmed off.

This works very well for normal molars but not so well if the problem is a wisdom tooth.

Whatever the problem happens to be just know that you are not alone

in having this problem and that there are several simple solutions.

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Does Grandpa have loose dentures?

It happens all the time.

Grandpa/Grandma/You have a top denture that fits

great but the lower denture is awful.

There is help.

2 implants need to be placed in the lower jaw.

Each one of those implants will have a gold housing on top of it.

These housings have undercuts in them that will serve as retention for the denture.

The old denture then gets holes drilled into it and metal

receptors with o-rings place in the holes.

These receptors with the o-rings will fit down over the implant housings and

secure the denture to the jaw.

It works very well and people are very happy that their denture is

no longer floating around in their mouth.

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Do you have bad breath?

What is the cause of bad breath??

There are many causes.

Teeth that are decayed.

Gum disease.

Bacteria.

Digestion problems.

Etc.

One of the first things to do in order to determine the cause of your

bad breath is to get to a dentist and get a good cleaning.

This will make sure you start off with a clean slate.

Then.....

For 2 weeks commit to brushing after each meal.

For 2 weeks commit to flossing daily.

And for 2 weeks commit to rinsing with a mouthwash such as Listerine, daily.

(Important note: You also need to brush your tongue.

Tongue scrapers, pictured below, are also available.)

After the 2 week period see how your breath is.

If it still smells as fresh and clean as it did when you left the dentist office

then your bad breath was, more then likely, a result of poor oral care.

This would be good news because all you need to do is continue

your new pattern of brushing, flossing, and rinsing and your bad breath should be history.

If things return to there normal, bad breath, state then other things need to be considered.

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What is wrong here?

There could be many things wrong, but the thing

that I am choosing to focus on is the missing teeth.

Many people think that it is okay to just remove one tooth. 

That nothing could possible happen.

Well, that is just not the case.

Teeth are held in place, in large part, by the teeth around them.

Teeth are only so tall because they run into the teeth in the other jaw.

Teeth are only so far forward in your mouth because of the teeth next

to them in the same jaw.

By pulling a tooth you may set in motion a whole lot of tooth movement

that you did not want and or plan on.

Your speech patterns.

Your ability to chew properly.

And the look of your smile may all be negatively effected.

Here is a picture of someone who had front teeth extracted.

Their other teeth are no shifting sideways.

This is an x-ray of someone that had back teeth extracted.

This shows the teeth further back tipping into the open spaces.

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Closed the gap.

Hey everybody.

This is Jeff.

Jeff is one heck of a guy.

He is married to one heck of a woman.

And has some great kids.

Only problem Jeff had was a gap in his teeth.

(That, and pigeons in his chimney. But that's another story.)

Anyway, we got Jeff in today to close the gap in his teeth.

No need for braces.

No need for shots.

Cheap as fillings.

Done in about an hour.

Totally reversible. 

Jeff Before

Jeff after.

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Knowledge is power.

Knowledge is power.

When you go to the dentist it is no different.

What should a filling feel like when its done?

What should a crown feel like when its done?

What should a root canal look like on x-ray when its done?

If you know the answers to questions like these the more you

will be able to make sure that you are getting good quality care.

A root canal is a very tricky procedure.

Many things can keep a root canal from going well.

However, for the most part your root canal should look a certain way.

Here is a way that a root canal should not look and a way it should.

This root canal is very short of the end of the tooth. 

There are also voids in the filling material, the filling

material does not look solid throughout.

This root canal looks very different.

The filling material goes all the way to the tip of the tooth.

And the filling is thick with no voids.

As was stated earlier there are difficulties in some root canals.

But most should go very smoothly.

Arm yourself with knowledge before having a procedure done.

After its done ask to see the pictures.

Ask if anything went wrong and what the prognosis is for the tooth's future.

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