Making teeth look like ....... teeth.

Are metal (amalgam fillings) bad?

No. 

And in certain circumstances we still use them. 

But they absolutely do not look like teeth. 

So when it comes time to change them the

transformation can be a thing of beauty.

Here we have an ordinary amalgam. 

It's a very well done filling actually.

But here we have the tooth after the old filling was removed

and the new, white, filling material is placed. 

Patient was very happy. 

This is a lower tooth and she said that she could see it every

time she looked in the mirror and wanted it gone. 

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Cosmetic Bonding.

This was one of the more challenging cosmetic bonding cases that I have done.

Some teeth that we bond are slightly tilted.

Some are slightly rotated.

Some are too long or too short.

This tooth is rotated 90 degrees.

Meaning the tooth is turned completely sideways.

The bonding was tough because the proportions are off due to the rotation.

However, The patient was very happy with the result.

She was told that expensive braces was her only option.

Turns out 30 minutes in the chair.....

no shots

no drilling

and the cost of a filling later she looked like this.

This is simply filling material and it can be done in lots and lots of cases.

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Oil Pulling & Stem Cells

There are a lot of questions out there right now about 

"alternative" dentistry.

I do not say alternative to be derogatory in any way.

I say alternative to simply denote that there is a more classical

view of dentistry and then there is an emerging view that holds

"alternate" views to that classical thought process.

Classic school of thought about teeth is that there 

are bacteria that live inside your mouth.

These bacteria ingest sugar. Their byproducts are acids.

These acids eat away at the enamel of your teeth. 

You keep your teeth brushed, flossed, and avoid ingesting

mass amounts of sugar and you shouldn't have a large 

scale cavity issue on your hands. 

And that school of thought, although very old, still

holds very true to this day. 

But what about the newer schools of thought?

What about using oil pulling and re-growing teeth with stem cells?

Well, here's my opinion. 

First, Oil Pulling.

If it works, for you, then great. I don't do it. 

I don't tell people to do it. 

The scientific studies are not yet what I would like

to see on the subject.

However, I see absolutely nothing negative about it, 

and if it works for you in regards to making your

mouth feel cleaner and you notice a decrease in the

amount of decay that your dentist is finding, then

go ahead. 

Second is re-growing teeth with stem cells.

This one is a little easier for me. 

Would I love to get a bunch of stem cells that I could

simply put into a patients mouth and get a new tooth back?

Absolutely. 

HOWEVER, if people understood what they would have to go

through to get to that point they wouldn't even think about it.

First off, your tooth has to go bad. It has to break, get infected, hurt,

or any other number of things that would be uncomfortable to go through.

Secondly, you then have to have the bad tooth removed.

Oral surgery.

Shots, forceps, blood, swelling, etc etc. 

WHY NOT JUST TAKE CARE OF WHAT YOU'VE GOT?!

You are going to have to brush the newly grown teeth anyway. 

Now, for trauma cases, congenitally missing teeth, etc. then

stem cells will be fantastic.

But for all of the other cases, that are far more numerous, 

stem cells are not all that they are cracked up to be. 

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