Monday, October 31, 2011

Does getting a root canal hurt?

If the conditions are right a root canal absolutely does NOT need to be
any more uncomfortable then any other dental procedure.

There are a ton of stories out there about root canals that were so terrible
that the people don't ever want to go back to the dentist.

Most of the stories about painful root canals comes from root canals that
were done many many years ago.
Technology has changed and root canal procedures
today are much better then they once were.

The second biggest reason why people have tough
times with root canals is they wait too long.
Please do not wait until your face is swollen to come into the dentist.
The swelling, and infection associated with it, make it very hard to get someone numb.

A root canal is simply cleaning out the inside of the tooth.
Teeth are hollow. The inside is filled with nerves and blood vessels.
A root canal is a procedure where we clean out the inside of the tooth.
Since the tooth then no longer has any nerves it can no longer
feel pain and you are back to your old happy self.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Most fun part of my job.


Doing these kinds of cases is a really fun part of my job.
The patient went through an initial cosmetic bonding process in the 70's.
Since then the bonding has discolored and chipped.
He decided it was time for a change.

Before
Half way there.
After!!
Helping people feel great about their teeth is something that I love to do.

This is all bonding.
No Shots.
No pain.
Same cost as fillings.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I told you so!!

There is something that I hate to see and hear at my office.
It is to see a parent tell a child "I told you to brush your teeth"
while they are shaking their finger at them.

This phrase is said by parents whose children have cavities
and will need to get their teeth filled.

Now, I am a parent of 5 children myself.
And I am all for natural consequences.
If I tell you to bring a jacket and you don't and you get cold,
well then that is the child's fault and a little cold air won't do any harm.
But the whole scene in the dental office is different.
If we are putting fillings into permanent teeth, then your child
is bound to need fairly extensive work on these teeth later in life.

A tooth that has no filling is MUCH better of long term then
a tooth that has even a small filling that is placed very young.

I know dentistry does not seem like a serious health issue, but it can be.
Its like taking your kids to get immunized.
They cry and say they don't want to.
You then say, "Fine but you'll regret it."
Then 10 years down the road your kids gets some life threatening disease
and you just shake your finger and say "See. Told ya you should
have gotten those immunizations."

You would never do that.
Some things are just too important.
You force your kids to take vitamins.
You make them get their immunizations.

You SHOULD make them brush their teeth.
Either under your supervision or you do it for them when they are young.


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Before and After

This is one of the largest "gap closure" cases that I have done.
The patient, like most of us, is worried about her funds.
Braces, bridge work, and veneers were not an option.

We were able to close the front 2 teeth and build up the side tooth a little.
The other side tooth is missing and we have other plans for that.

Before
After
About 1 hour on this case.
No shots.
No drilling on the teeth.

Patient was very happy with result.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Tongue Piercing = Bad Idea

You see it all the time.
People with barbells sticking out their tongue.
You may even have one yourself.
But is it safe?
In a word...... NO!
Can you feel a stray hair on your arm? Probably not.
Can you feel a stray hair on your leg? Again, probably not.
Can you feel a hair in your mouth? Absolutely.
The reason for this is because the tongue has more nerves contained in it then almost any other part of your entire body. It is very sensitive and very precise. Therefore, ramming a large steel rod through it will certainly damage these nerves. Piercing the tongue can lead to a loss in ability to feel your tongue and ability to taste food.
Besides loss of taste and feel there are also other dangers.
Since the mouth can not be kept sterile, as other parts you may pierce,
the chance of infection is greater. The above picture is a very nicely infected tongue.
Cracking your teeth on a tongue ring is also a very real concern. I have treated many cracked teeth from people biting down on tongue rings.

Want another reason?
How about this one.
If you catch your tongue ring on something.
You can actually pull it out of your tongue and cause, this......
Look Fun????

My suggestion, DON'T DO IT!!!


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It's just a little spot. No big deal. Right?



Enamel is the white stuff that makes up the outer covering of your teeth.
Enamel is the strongest substance in your body.
It is very difficult for bacteria to penetrate this layer.
Once it does however, the next layer, dentin, is much softer and easier to get through.
Therefore, all it takes is one little spot of decay to get into your tooth
and you could be in serious trouble.

Once bacteria are on the inside of the tooth they begin to multiply.
Bacteria need food, water, and warmth to multiply.
And your mouth has an abundance of all three.

Here is a before and after picture of a case that we just did today.
The patient came in complaining of intense pain but did not know why
as her tooth only showed the most mild of decay.

First picture shows the tooth before we started.
Only a small amount of decay present.
This picture shows the insides of the tooth after the decay was taken out.
The holes in the bottom are the places where the nerve used to be.
This tooth ended up getting a root canal.
Be careful. Any discoloration may be too much.
Get it checked out.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Meth Mouth

There is a drug out there known as Meth.
Its not good for a whole boat load of reasons.
But seeing as how I am a dentist I will focus on the dental problems.

The first problem is that Meth causes your salivary glands to stop producing spit.
This may not seem like a big thing, but it is.
Just imagine if your tear ducts stopped producing tears.
Your eyes would dry out in a big hurry.
Dry eyes would be painful and damage would begin to occur.
Same thing with teeth.
Dry teeth will end up being painful and damaged teeth.

(Early meth use)
The next problem is that Meth will make a person grind their teeth.
Scientists really aren't sure why but they have seen it enough to know that it happens.
Grinding of brittle dry teeth will cause fractures to begin happening.

(Moderate Meth use)
Finally Meth will cause people to just not care anymore.
And when you really don't care about your teeth you really don't
take care of them and you really don't care eat of drink anymore either.

The black spots on the gums are what's left of the teeth.
They have either rotted, been broken down to, the gums.

(Severe Meth use)



Monday, October 17, 2011

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.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

How long will it last?


"How long will it last doc?" is a question I get asked all the time.
Usually I get asked this question after I tell someone they have a cracked tooth.

The Answer I give people is, "it depends".
And although it sounds like a cop-out it is absolutely the correct answer.


If we can see a crack in a tooth that means that the tooth is giving way.
Whether it is giving way like the beach to erosion.
Or whether it is giving way like a pony with a sumo wrestler in its back
is the question.

It all really depends on your diet.
If you eat nothing but yogurt the rest of your life then the tooth will make it a long time.
If you crush ice and corn nuts with your teeth then the tooth may break by tonight.

So the dentist really doesn't have any idea.
Its all up to you.

Best thing to do is to get it taken care of right away so that you don't test the
limits of your tooth's toughness.
If it does break the consequences could be dire.


How long will it last?


"How long will it last doc?" is a question I get asked all the time.
Usually I get asked this question after I tell someone they have a cracked tooth.

The Answer I give people is, "it depends".
And although it sounds like a cop-out it is absolutely the correct answer.


If we can see a crack in a tooth that means that the tooth is giving way.
Whether it is giving way like the beach to erosion.
Or whether it is giving way like a pony with a sumo wrestler in its back
is the question.

It all really depends on your diet.
If you eat nothing but yogurt the rest of your life then the tooth will make it a long time.
If you crush ice and corn nuts with your teeth then the tooth may break by tonight.

So the dentist really doesn't have any idea.
Its all up to you.

Best thing to do is to get it taken care of right away so that you don't test the
limits of your tooth's toughness.
If it does break the consequences could be dire.


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Before and After Cosmetic



Here is a patient of ours who just wanted to smile again.
She had very weak teeth and was suffering from multiple deep cavities.
Here is her before picture.
The whole procedure took about 2 hours but the patient thought it was worth it.
We used filling material due to the expensive nature of getting every tooth crowned.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My Kid Just Knocked Their Front Tooth Out?!


Okay. First of all, as in most traumatic situations.
Do not panic.
Its likely that your child has never gone through this before.
Therefore, they are fairly unaware whether what just happened
to them is simply a minor thing or whether they will soon be in the hospital.
The way they will be able to tell how severe the situation
is is by looking at their parent.
If you are flipping out then they will too.

The first thing to do is to educate yourself BEFORE something like this happens.
It is very important to know when your child's baby teeth will come out naturally.
Here is a chart of, about, when that will happen.
This is important because if the tooth that was just knocked out was about to
come out anyway then there is much less to worry about.
If it's still a year or so away, or you know that its already the permanent tooth
that just got knocked out then there is much more to worry about.



So lets say your child is 8 or 9 years old and it is the adult tooth that just got knocked out.
First thing is to do is obviously check your child for signs of significant injury.
If they hit their face hard enough to knock a tooth out
you need to check for signs of a concussion.
If they seem to be alright except for the tooth then the next step is to find the tooth.
Once the tooth is found treat it very gently.
The tooth is attached to the bone by ligaments.
Parts of those ligaments will still be attached to the tooth and must not be damaged.
First carefully pick off any large pieces of debris.
Secondly the smaller pieces need to be rinsed off.
This is best accomplished by gently rubbing the tooth against the inside of your child's cheek.
This will get all the small particles off and still treat the tooth gently.

Then, are you ready for this..... you need to stick the tooth back in.
That's right, you need to gently place the tooth back into the socket from which it came.
Its pretty simple.
The Skinny part goes in first.
Just simply slide it back into place.
Don't force it. Simply get it as close as you can.
If it wont go or you don't have the stomach for it then place the tooth
into your child's mouth in the bottom jaw in between the cheek and gums.
Holding the tooth there will give it the best chance for survival.
Another idea would be to place it in a glass of milk.
Saliva and milk are the best places for a knocked out tooth.
DON'T place the tooth in a glass of water.
The water will destroy any chance we would have had to
get the tooth to reattach to the body naturally.

Then finally, in all cases, get to a dentist ASAP.
The dentist will know what to do and will give you options depending on the
severity of the accident and the condition of the jaw and tooth.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

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.
Best thing to do is see your dentist and see if he/she can find the cause.


Monday, October 3, 2011

The evolution of an implant.


The evolution of an implant.

#1 Somehow acquire a bad tooth.
Break it off at the gums, have a root canal that fails, etc.
(example of tooth broken off at gums)
#2 Get the tooth extracted and then place the implant.
#3 Attach a post to the implant.
This will serve as a platform on which to place the crown.
#4 Place a crown on the post and you are back to full function.
This entire project took about 3 months to complete.
The patient is very happy with the results.