Changing out the metal.

Although this particular filling was not replaced solely

for the fact that it was metal, you can still see the results.

 Here is a before picture.

Here is the after. 

Metal fillings are replaced for a variety of reasons.

This filling was replaced do to a fracture that was beginning on one side of the tooth.

Some fillings are replaced because the people who have them want 

a more cosmetic looking filling to be placed.

Some fillings are replaced by people who simply  want to be preventative

and have decided that it is time to get the old fillings out.

Whatever the reason behind your decision to get your fillings out

and replace them with new ones, the procedure is very simple an inexpensive.

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Mr C. came to our office one day with a failing root canal.

Like other medical procedures, root canals can fail.

After weighing the options Mr C. decided to have

 the tooth extracted and an implant placed. 

(Before the extraction.) 

Showing the root canal and a pretty decent sized infection.

Tooth was extracted and a bone graft was placed in the site.

Waiting time will be about 3 weeks.

Day of the surgery went very well.

Head of the implant is flush with the bone so our aesthetics should look great.
Infection now gone and infected area even starting to fill in a little.

8 weeks from now we will have a beautiful new tooth on there.

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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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Chipped tooth

A chipped tooth may, or may not, be a big cause for concern.

It all depends on how badly you have chipped it.

Some chips are very small and would require nothing but a little smoothing off.

Like this one.

Some are larger and may require a filling to get the tooth looking the way it used to.

Like this one.

And some may require as much as a root canal and crown.

Like this one.

Bottom line is this, if you have chipped your tooth do not panic.

It may be a bad thing but it may require almost nothing at all.

Just get into your dentist and let him/her discuss the options with you.

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Don't threaten your kids!!!

This post is not meant to be a lecture on how to raise children.

And trust me when I tell you that I do my share of threatening.

"You won't get any desert if you don't eat your beans."

"You wont get to watch the movie if you don't finish your chores."

Etc.

Etc.

The threatening that I am talking about is threatening your children

that they will have to get stabbed in the mouth with a needle by

the horrible mean dentist if they do not brush their teeth.

You may laugh, but it happens ALL THE TIME.

Children come in to get one simple cavity filled and they are out of

control and crying before they even walk through the door.

Their parents have scared them so badly that just the site of me sends

them into a screaming fit.

This wouldn't be so bad if the parent would then help me calm them down.

But that, usually, does not happen.

The parent will sit out in the waiting room and say things like....

"You knew this was going to happen" or

"Okay, you have to go get your shots now" or

"Don't cry, I told you he would drill on you if you didn't brush"

Do any of you know how hard it is for me at that point?

Do any of you know how hard it is on the child at that point?

Not only is it hard right then but this kind of thing will build an emotional

wall in that child that may remain for the rest of their life.

Most people that hate to come to the dentist due to experiences

when they were little children.

Bottom line is this.

If you can't get your children to brush their teeth by saying please or by using some

other type of positive reinforcement that is fine. Threatening to cut off the

x-box is, in my mind, a fine thing to do.

Just don't tell them how horrifying it will be to see the dentist.

It will makes things that much worse now, and later on down the road as well.

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Free I-Pod With Every Brain Surgery!!

Would you get your brain surgery from a surgeon who advertised that

you would get a free I-Pod if you got your surgery from him?

Would you get a knee replacement from a guy who offered a free

DVD player with every knee replacement?

Of course not!

These things are too important to trust to someone who may be doing

a terrible job on people and is simply trying lure people in with free stuff.

Please use this same logic when you choose your dentist.

Your teeth mean more to you then you will ever know.

Good looking teeth will help in your self confidence, relationships, getting a job,

respect of co-workers, neighbors, etc.

What do you think of when you see someone with no teeth, missing teeth,

badly stained teeth, etc?

You may place labels on them that are not all that flattering.

These labels may not be true but someone that has a horrible looking

smile may be overlooked for someone, less qualified, but with a better looking smile.

Getting freebies is cool.

But get the freebies from Old Navy or some place like that.

DO NOT get your freebies from someone that will be providing medical or

dental care to you that may effect you the rest of your life.

Ask around.

Get referrals.

Ask to see before and after pictures.

Know before you go.

If you really want the free I-Pod that is great.

Just don't be shocked if the teeth you end up with don't match your expectations.

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Baby Bottle Tooth decay

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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Cosmetic Bonding

This patient had a deformed tooth since it came in.

Even braces was not an option because the tooth just isn't the right shape.

His only options were to get the tooth out and get a bridge or implant.

This case isn't perfect.

If I could have numbed up the the patient and shaped the gums

above the tooth I would have been a little happier.

However, this patient didn't get one shot and was done in 30 minutes and

will not have any post op sensitivity.

He is very pleased with the result.

Before (Tooth malformed)

After

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Stop Brushing so Hard!!!

So is it possible to damage your teeth by brushing too hard?

Absolutely!!

Enamel (the white stuff that covers your teeth) is the

hardest substance in the human body.

It would be very hard to brush through that.

Enamel however, only covers the tooth as it comes out of the gums.

If your gums recede due to genetics or very aggressive brushing then another

layer of the tooth is revealed.

This layer is called the dentin layer.

This layer is much softer then enamel.

Brushing too hard can, very easily, erode this layer.

You can tell that this is happening if you feel a little ridge on your tooth

as you get up near your gums.

It may feel like a little trench or groove.

If you have one of these you need to get it checked out to see how deep it is

and if anything needs to be done about it.

Small fillings can actually be placed in the grooves to help

protect the tooth from any future damage.

If left untreated you can actually brush a deep enough groove into

your tooth that you would need a root canal.

The picture below shows a tooth where the groove almost reached the nerve.

Moral of the story is to stop brushing so hard.

A quick trip to the dentist can tell you if your brushing in appropriete or not.

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Implants today

Today we put an implant in a women who had broken a tooth off at the gumline.

Extraction, implant, and bone graft all done at same appointment.

Before

After.

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Mindy Anderton Wright

We had a few extra minutes today so we decided to help Mindy out a bit.

She has always hated a gap she had in front of one of her teeth.

She decided to wait and see what to do with the gap in back of the tooth.

This procedure took 20 minutes.

No shots. No pain.

She is ecstatic with the results!!

Before

After

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You Sleep, I Work.

We just finished up a sedation case this morning.

Went beautifully.

We bring in an anesthesiologist.

He puts you to sleep. And when you wake up your work

is done and you are looking at my smiling face : )

Okay, so maybe we have a family member there when you

wake up because seeing me as you wake up may cause

nightmares, but whatever.

Point is that you can sleep all the way through the appointment.

It is really great stuff.

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What is 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

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 are normally very repairable and the scare can be almost unrecognizable.

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