There has been a large push in the media over this issue but we are still

seeing it in the office so I think it bears repeating.

Early childhood cavities are bad news.

These cavities are costly to fix, it is harder to keep them intact,

and drilling on children gives them a bad perception

of what going to the dentist is all about, which will stay with them

for a long long time and effect how they view dental care in the future.

Simple rule of thumb here.

Do not give your children anything to drink, that is not water, in between meals.

At meal time they can have lots of stuff.

Juice, milk, koolaid, etc.

After the meal is over have them brush their teeth or swish with a glass of water.

This will help clean the sugars out of their mouths that they got form the meal.

ANY other time you should be giving them water.

It is the child that is continuously exposed to sugars that will get the cavities.

And for the love of all that is good and holy do not, under any circumstances,

put your child to bed with a bottle of juice, milk, or anything else.

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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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You may need an apicoectomy?

I may need a what!?

Okay, its not something you hear everyday but its something that can

be very helpful if you find your self with a failing root canal.

Root canals do not always work.

Just as a knee replacement or a back surgery may 

not always work, the same is true with a root canal.

So what can be done if a root canal you got is starting to hurt

and possibly become infected?

One option is called an apicoectomy.

This procedure is not for every instance.

Proximity to the sinus cavity and/or nerves 

may make this procedure impossible.

But if your tooth is a candidate then this is how it works.

Below is a picture of a tooth with an infection at the end

that has already had a root canal.

A small access to the root of the tooth is made 

by making a small incision into the gums and then the underlying bone.

The infected area and tip of the root is removed.

This will allow the root canal and tooth to remain intact 

while still removing the infection.

After the infection is removed the gum tissue is re-sealed and the healing can begin.

This procedure is very effective and does no further harm to the tooth.

This is especially important if the tooth was crowned after the root canal was finished.

.

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Cosmetic Bonding - Before and After

Cosmetic bonding is such a wonderful treatment.

Things that people have been dealing with for years can

be corrected in a matter of minutes without any shots and 

at relatively low cost when compared with the alternatives.

This is Nancy.

Nancy had always hated the gaps in her front teeth.

Nancy has 3 kids and did not want to go through braces.

She also did not want to spend gobs of money on crowns or veneers.

So we did a procedure called cosmetic bonding.

Cosmetic bonding simply means placing a small white filling

on the side of each tooth that makes up the gap.

The fillings simply glue on, like all other fillings, 

and are very durable.

Nancy Before.

 Nancy After

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GAG!

What is gagging?

Gagging is simply a defense mechanism that your body has to keep you from chocking.

Now this is typically a good thing. No one wants to get something down "the wrong pipe".

This however, can cause problems at the dentist office.

Having a bad gag reflex can make it almost impossible to get certain dental work done.

The picture below will show several items.

The soft palate is what we are interested in for this discussion.

When something touches the soft palate the bodies natural reaction will be

to close your throat off and prevent whatever it is that just touched the

soft palate from continuing down your throat and choking you to death.

Another spot where the gag reflex comes into play is tongue.

This can be a little more problematic then the soft palate gag reflex.

Not much will ever touch your soft palate but your tongue gets touched

all the time as you eat or whenever you go to the dentist.

Not much can be done for the soft palate gag reflex but there is help for the tongue.

Take your tooth brush and find the spot that makes you gag.

Start brushing your tongue at a spot that does not make you gag and

work your way toward that spot. Keep doing that day after day until you

can brush anywhere on your tongue without gagging.

Another trick would be to place a little bit of salt on your tongue, where it

makes you gag, before going to the dentist. That will, hopefully,

distract that spot long enough for you to get done what is you need done.

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What does Meth do to your teeth? (WARNING, not pretty)

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)

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Do I brush too hard?

Some patients will tell me that they are noticing little 

grooves at the base of there teeth, right by the gums.

They wonder what they are, and if anything can be done to prevent

them from getting worse and/or to stop them from happening on their other teeth?

Here is what is going on. 

The white stuff that covers your teeth is called enamel.

The enamel only goes as far as the gums however.

If you start to feel  a little groove at the base of your teeth

or start to see a band of discoloration both of these may be 

due to something called "Gum Recession".

As your gums start to recede the root structure of your teeth 

starts to be uncovered.

The root structure of your tooth is much more sensitive  to 

hots and colds, is much softer and more prone to cavities, and

has a much darker color then the enamel.

The number one cause of this is brushing too hard, too long, and/or too often.

Nothing can be done to fix what has happened. 

Fillings can be placed over the effected area to cover it up

but the gums will never grow back up to the enamel line.

To stop this from happening in the future I recommend  using the softest toothbrush

you can find, the mildest toothpaste you can find, and making sure that you 

use very light pressure as you brush.

These things will aid in keeping your gums as healthy as possible without beating them up too bad.

Sometimes this gum recession is simply due to genetics and there is nothing

that can be done about this. In those instances the same steps should be 

used to slow the progress on the recession for as long as possible.

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