The Dangers of Lip Rings

Take a look at the tooth below. 

What happened?!

The gums above this tooth are way higher up then they should be. 

The gums of the other teeth look unaffected. 

How does only 1 tooth sustain such damage?

In THIS case.

A lip ring. 

In this picture you can see that I have pulled the lip back.

You can still see the damaged tooth in the back ground.

But in between my fingers is the culprit.

That white disk is the backing for the patients lip ring.

That disk has rubbed the gums right off of the tooth.

And since the gum recession was so bad the root of the

tooth was exposed and the tooth became much more 

susceptible to decay.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be careful with lip rings.

Plastic is better then metal but anything rubbing against 

another surface can cause damage over time. 

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Body Modification. Lip Gauging.

That's right.

You have heard of tongue, ear and nose gauges.

Now we have lip gauges.

Lip gauges have famously been around for a long time

among some groups in Africa.

The big difference is that the older gauges simply extend

the lip outward. Meanwhile, the new gauges actually

go through the lips and from a path to the oral cavity.

Confused. Here are a couple of pictures. 

Older Gauges 

You can see that the lips are simply stretched out. 

The disk that is inserted into the lip can be removed and 

the mouth can be fully closed for eating.

That is the trouble I may have with the newer variety of gauges.

As you can see the hole is actually a communication into the oral cavity.

The issue I have with these newer style of gauges is how to keep

food in your mouth when you are eating and how to keep drool

in your mouth when you are not.

I don't know how to stop the drool thing but I would think that perhaps a 

plug could be inserted into the hole to prevent food from coming out

during eating. Either way, these may be more trouble then they are worth.

The good side to these is that if your partner also has one of these, 

you can do this.

I case you are confused, 

both of them have holes in their lower lips. 

They are touching tongues through the holes.

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Those bumps are called tori.

Tori.

Ever heard of the word?

A tori is a lump of bone that resides in the mouth.

Most people that have tori think nothing of it because they have always had it.

Well, not everyone does have it.

But even if you do have it it really not that big of a deal.

Its just bone and likely wont ever cause you any problems.

One of the only times that it may cause you problems is if you need a denture.

Dentures are very hard to fabricate over the top of tori.

It is only a minor problem however due to the fact that tori can be removed.

So if you have a hard boney lump that has been in your mouth forever,

it may not hurt to get it checked out, but more often then not its simply just a tori.

Tori in the floor of the mouth.

Tori in the roof of the mouth.

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Give me some of that gas!

So what is laughing gas?

Why do we use it?

Is it okay for anyone to have? 

Technically speaking laughing gas is Nitrous Oxide or N20. 

Here is a nice little diagram of its chemical make-up.

We use laughing gas to take the "edge" off.

When someone is nervous about a situation then any little stimulus will

seem a bigger then it actually is.

This is true for the dentist office as well.

Routine procedures can become overwhelming to dental phobic patients.

We therefore administer gas to remove that overly tense feel and 

make the routine seem routine again.

The effect of the gas creates a slightly euphoric state in people. 

Feelings of floating or tingling all over are very common.

But most of all it just makes you more relaxed. 

It is a very safe product to use and unless you have some sort of respiratory 

problem almost anyone can safely use it.

To tell you what exactly it does would sound something like this.......

 "It seems N₂O-induced release of endogenous opioids causes 

disinhibition of brain stem noradrenergic neurons, 

which release norepinephrine into the spinal cord and inhibit pain signaling."

But since most people have no idea what that means just trust me when I tell you

that it works, its safe, and you feel much better for having it : )

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Implant case

Here is as straight forward of an implant case as you will see.

Patient had a failing root canal on a pre-molar tooth.

Tooth was extracted and a single implant placed.

After healing had occurred then a solid zirconium crown was put in place.

Patient is very happy with the result.

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Does my child need braces?

We get this question a lot.

And the answer is directly related to the definition of the word "need".

There are very few things that we "need" in life.

Water, food, and shelter being among them.

You only "need" to have braces if the misalignment of your teeth 

is so great that is causing you health problems.

Health problems such as the inability to eat properly, 

trouble speaking clearly, and/or experiencing extreme

amounts of tooth decay because your teeth are simply to hard to clean properly.

Other then these instances braces are a "want" and not a "need".

It is simply a cosmetic issue at that point.

Do women "need" to die their hair when it turns gray?

Do men "need" to trim their eyebrows when they get over 3 inches long?

So the determination of whether or not your child "needs" braces is

pretty much up to you and your child. 

For more information on braces and all other things orthodontic 

you can talk to your dentist or contact an orthodontist directly.

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What is a cleft lip and palate?

The word "cleft" simply means a crack or divide. A cleft lip is simply the body incorrectly or incompletely closing the facial structures during development. This incomplete closing leaves a cleft, or divide, in the lip and/or palate of the new born. Below is an ultrasound showing a cleft lip

Clefts can be simply the lip (cleft lip).

Or they can be more severe and include the palate (cleft lip and palate).

In the cleft lip and palate the teeth are often involved.

Missing, misaligned, and or misplaced teeth can be common.

Clefts, no matter the severity, are normally very repairable

and the scare can be almost unrecognizable.

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