www.BestOgdenDentist.com Blog

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Step by step pictures of getting a filling.

Okay, her we go.

Step one, the tooth below had a cavity that was in between it and

the tooth that sits above it in the picture.

Please take a moment to note that you can not see the cavity with your eyes.

We found it on an x-ray. That is why waiting to come to the dentist till

after you can see the cavity is a bad idea. By then it is much bigger

then it otherwise needed to be.

Step 2, cut away the portion of the tooth that is bad.

Step 3, separate the 2 teeth so that the filling material

only sticks to the tooth we want it to.

The filling material will now be placed into the hole in the tooth.

Step 4, once the filling material is placed in the tooth we

shape it and contour it so that it blends right in with the tooth.

The goal here is that the filling is not visible.

On a picture this big you can barely see the edges but just

looking into someones mouth seeing this filling would be next to impossible.

Now next time you need to get a filling you will know what is happening.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

How do you tell someone they are old?

Almost everyday I have to tell someone, that has

never had a cavity, that they have a cavity.

Many of these people are in the 50's or 60's.

They spend lots of time brushing and flossing and have never had a

cavity and don't understand how they now are getting cavities when

they are doing the same things that they have always done to keep their teeth clean.

At this point I have to be very diplomatic.

The simple answer is...... you are getting older.

As we age things will begin to break down.

These people have no problem accepting that their eyesight isn't what is used to be.

Or that their hearing may be a little worse then it was when they were younger.

But for some reason, the fact that their teeth are also wearing down is a new concept.

Every part of our bodies will break down over time.

Teeth will follow right along with the rest of it.

The forces of a lifetime of chewing mixed in with the fact that salivary flow

rates decrease as we age (thus less protection for our teeth) means that

an increase in cavities over time is almost inevitable.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

There are lots of myths out there.

The Lochness Monster, Bigfoot, etc.etc.

Mine is the myth of the cosmetic dentist.

There is no such thing as a cosmetic dentist.

Here is a list of the specialties that are recognized by the ADA. Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Endodontics, Dental Public Health, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, and Prosthodontics.

Each one of these specialties is strictly regulated. Each doctor that practices in one of these fields must go through advanced licensure requirements and advanced schooling even beyond dental school. These doctors carry with them advanced knowledge that is strictly regulated by the ADA.

If you noticed none of those specialties that I just mentioned was called the specialty of cosmetic dentistry. That's because it doesn't exist. And as a matter of fact it is illegal to advertise yourself as a cosmetic dentist.

The idea of being "cosmetic" simply means that you try to make things look better. Well, there isn't a dentist, or specialist, out there who DOESN'T do this. Everyone in the dental field has the goal to make things look better. Its what we do.

Now, is it true that a dental professional can go to courses, after dental school, that focus solely on cosmetic procedures? Absolutely. And I have been to many of them. But that does not mean that I am a specialist in cosmetic dentistry. Because, once again, no one can be. It doesn't exist.

If you have things that you would like to see changed about your teeth then ask around. Find a dentist that has a good reputation for that kind of thing. Then when you meet him/her ask to see some of their work. If it looks good then you are probably at the right place.

Here is a case that we did in our office.

Before

After

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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

I have too many missing teeth for you to fix.

Sometimes folks come into the office and tell me that their teeth

are so bad and that they have so many missing ones that there

is no way that I could possibly fix all of them.

Well almost 100% of the time they are wrong.

Take Jenny for instance.

Jenny had several missing teeth all on the same side.

She thought there was nothing that could be done.

Below you will see a picture of a bridge that we made for jenny.

This bridge goes from her very back tooth all the way up to

one of her front four teeth.

(Sorry its a tad blurry)

Its all one piece.

It will get cemented in place and won't need

to be removed on a nightly basis.

It looks fantastic.

And its a way to replace 3 of Jenny's missing teeth at one time.

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Monday, April 16, 2012

I don't have dental insurance.

Just going to get up on a little dental soap box for a second.

I have people come into my office all the time with a really bad toothache.

I ask these folks why it is that they didn't come in sooner.

The answer that I get, a lot of the time, is that they didn't have dental insurance.

Now, this answer does have its merits.

Dental insurance does in deed help with the cost of dental care.

However, there is another side the story.

Say you have a small cavity.

This cavity would cost, lets say, $100 to fix.

If you let that small cavity go however, you may need a root canal.

A root canal would cost about $500.

If you needed a crown after the root canal then we need to add another $800.

So what would have cost you $100 will now cost you $1,300.

You still have no insurance but now you do not have a choice to

fix the problem because it is killing you.

The far better solution would be to come in and get the

problem fixed when it is small.

Financial arrangements can easily be made to accommodate anyone

who may be struggling to come up with the funds.

Save time, money, pain, and multiple trips to the dental office.

If there is a problem PLEASE do not put it off.

Your teeth and your wallet will thank you.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

What are dental sealants?

A sealant is a protective covering that is placed over a tooth

so that it is harder for the bacteria to attack it and cause a cavity.

Material is flowed into all of the cracks and grooves to protect

them and then the material is cured to a hard state.

99% of the time the teeth that are

sealed are the 1st and 2nd adult molars.

These teeth come in at ages 6 and 12 respectively.

Any tooth can be sealed but it is typically these two teeth

because they are the most likely to get cavities and they

are the ones the the insurance companies will pay for.

You children don't need sealants but it sure does help.

Adults can get sealants on their back teeth but you will pay for it all yourself.

If you are interested, talk to your dentist.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

How long until my tooth breaks?

This question is one that we get, probably, more often then any other.

Below is a picture from a patient that we saw for the

first time yesterday. You will notice that towards the

top of the picture there is a chip out of the tooth.

The tooth has a large metal filling already and is in a weakened state.

How long this tooth will last till it suffers a more significant break is

almost completely up to the patient.

If the patient went on an all yogurt diet then the tooth would last a long time.

If the patient had a corn-nut addiction it may last 12 hours.

There is really no way to tell.

Best thing to do is obviously to get it fixed.

But if you can't then the best thing is to make sure that you

don't chomp down on anything really hard on the side until

you can get it fixed.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Can you even fix this?

Its funny what people will say sometimes.

This patient wasn't even sure that we could fix his tooth, at all!

Well, this tooth, and so many more like it, are

very much savable with just a little help from your

friendly neighborhood Ogden Dentist.

Here is the before picture.

This patient needed work on the tooth in the middle of

the picture and the tooth on the right side of the picture.

We finished this up in about 40 minutes.

Both teeth required the use of filling material but neither

tooth needed to be numbed up at all.

Patient chose a lighter shade because the next

step is to bleach the teeth.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

There is always on option.

Our patient had a tough decision on her hands.

She lost her side, front tooth.

She wasn't a good candidate for implants so that was out.

She also had a bridge that already included her front teeth.

So what to do.

Fuzzy (sorry) picture of the missing tooth and the canine

tooth that we will be using.

The canine tooth has already been prepared so it

appears a little shorter then it normally would.

Here are the new crowns that will soon be placed in the

patient's mouth.

The crown is going to go over the canine and the other

tooth is just hanging off of the canine crown.

Here are the crowns in place.

So we were able to save the front teeth crowns and

still manage to replace her missing tooth without

doing an implant.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

What is a tooth abscess?

When a tooth goes bad it will begin to produce infection.

That infection wants to go somewhere.

In a typical tooth the only way out of the tooth is out the

end of the tooth into the bone.

Once the infection is in the bone it then wants to find a way out of that.

After making it though the bone it will then try to make its way though the gums.

It is at this point when you will start to see the redness, swelling, and

drainage that are signs of an abscess.

Abscess' can come in different forms and in different places.

Here is an abscess at the top of the front tooth.

This one is very red and inflamed.

Here is an abscess that came out the bottom of the chin.

What you are seeing is a plastic drain that has been inserted to

take away any extra infection.

Here is an abscess at the top of a rear tooth.

This abscess is white and doesn't look very inflamed.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Now you see it......

Patient came in yesterday with a cavity in her front tooth.

This would normally be kind of annoying but in

her case it was an even bigger problem.

She is getting bridal pictures taken in just a few weeks!

Here is the before picture.

Here is the after picture.

We were able to do this in about 30 minutes,

and we didn't even need to get her numbed up.

Good luck with the wedding!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Lets see if this is you.

Your tooth hurts, but only sometimes.

Its not sensitive to changes in temperature.

It hurts to bite on things but only every once in a while.

You have asked your dentist but they can't find anything wrong with it.

Any of this sound familiar?

You may have a cracked tooth.

Cracks are not always visible by the dentist.

It takes some time and investigation to find them.

Once found however, depending on the severity of the crack, they can be fairly easy to fix.

So if you find yourself having random tooth pain that is driving you crazy, consult your dentist about whether or not your tooth could be cracked.

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Monday, March 12, 2012

The Floss Replacement?

Houston, we have a problem.

No one likes to floss.

Some people do it but even those folks don't find it to be the highlight of their day.

Floss manufacturers know this and so they have been coming out with floss alternatives to try to entice people.

One of these alternatives that is really catching on is a little thing that looks like a piece of pipe cleaner. You take this little pipe cleaner job and push it back and forth at the base of you tooth.

These things are called inter proximal brushes, proxi brushes, etc. But they all do the same thing.

Here are some examples.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that although they do a great job of getting things out from the space right above the gum line, they absolutely do not get to the most important spot in between the teeth.

This most important spot is the spot where the floss snaps.

That spot that snaps is where the bugs that cause the cavities are hiding.

They wedge into the hardest spot to get to in order to cause cavities.

If you do not feel that snap then you are not getting that spot clean.

Don't get me wrong here.

I love it when people use the little pip cleaner jobs.

However, I am starting to see more and more folks that are getting cavities that say to me, "how is that possible?! I am using those pipe cleaners all the time."

Use these cool new gadgets just don't let them replace the floss.

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Friday, March 9, 2012

Implant continued.

We were back with our good buddy Collinn today.

I changed the spelling of his name to protect his innocence.

Collinn had a root canal that failed (not mine :) )

The dark area at the end of the tooth denotes infection

originating from the failing root canal.

This is the site after the extraction occurred.

The area was also cleaned of infection

and a bone graft was placed.

Here is a picture of the implant that was placed

about 4 weeks after the extraction took place.

the top of the implant is right at the bone level

and the infected area looks to be healing nicely.

After 6 weeks (this morning) the abutment (top of the implant) was placed.

This part is what what the new crown will sit on.

Things are going swimmingly.

Within 2 weeks we will have the final crown in place

and Collinn will be back to is good old self.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

What's on the inside of my tooth?

Your teeth are hollow.

The hollow chamber contains the blood vessels

and nerves that give your teeth, life.

A root canal is simply the process of accessing this

chamber and scrubbing it clean of all its contents

so that it can't cause you anymore pain.

This is the inside of a molar.

We were almost completed with a root canal when

I decided to snap this picture.

Since this is an upper molar it has 3 roots on it.

Typically each root has one canal in it.

After the inside has been scrubbed clean the

canals are then filled with a rubberized material.

The hole we make to access the nerve chamber is then

filled with a typical filling material used to fill cavities.

The pink stuff you can see inside the tooth

is the rubberized material that has already

been placed down into the canals.

Here is a X-Ray of the molar before we worked on it.

Notice in the teeth that there is a black line down the center,

that is the hollow space where the nerves reside.

Now instead of black lines you can see white lines.

Those white lines are the rubberized material.

If all goes well this tooth will no longer cause the patient any more trouble.