Cougars and Utes

As a dentist here in the Utah area I have been asked many times (or never)

to settle the dispute over who is better, the Cougars or the Utes.

A Ute is a Native American Indian that lived in the Utah area.

A Cougar is a large member of the cat family also known as a mountain lion.

Since I am a dentist I must use teeth as the determining factor for this decision.

It is evident from research that I have done that the teeth of a cougar

are far superior in every way to that of a Ute.

Please note this opinion is not biased (although I do have BYU season tickets).

In color, ability to rip meat from the bone, size, and strength the

cougars have a decided edge over the Utes.

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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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Metal Fillings (amalgam)

Fewer and fewer people are asking this question, but occasionally we still do get it.

Are metal fillings safe?

The answer to this is, yes.

There have been studies done by the American Dental Association

and the Centers for Disease Control that both state that metal fillings

are safe to use.

In fact in certain cases we still use this material.

It is rare however, do to the fact that most people do not want the metal look.

You can go on the internet and find sites that tell you the horrors of amalgam.

But you can find a lot of stuff on the internet that isn't necessarily true.

If you have questions ask your dentist.

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Soda Pop

Everyone on planet earth knows that drinking soda pop is bad for your teeth

Both the sugar and the acids lead to tooth decay.

Even though we all know this fact however, does not translate into

anyone of us no longer drinking it.

I myself throughly enjoy a Dr. Pepper when I am out to eat.

So what to do?

Do we all just end up looking like this guy?

Hopefully the answer to that is, no.

Simply do as the beer commercials say and, "Drink Responsibly".

Simply limit your soda drinking to meal times.

Then after your meal is done take one last drink of water to help rinse the sugars out.

Sipping on soda throughout the day is the worst thing you can do.

If you can't stop drinking soda pop then simply do it in a way that would

minimize the chance that you would get cavities.

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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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Invisalign alternative

Clear, Removable, Braces.

Everyone calls these types of braces Invisalign.

However, another product is out on the market that

does the exact same thing except less expensive.

This product is called Clear Correct.

The trays are still clear.

Your teeth still move.

You can still take them out.

If you have orthodontic insurance you are still covered.

The bottom line is you simply pay less.

I see a little cavity

If you ever look in your mouth and are able to SEE any color other then the white of your teeth you need to get it looked at.

It may just be stain or last nights dinner. But it could be a sign of something much more.

When a dentist looks at your teeth he/she uses color change as one of the indicators to take a closer look at any particular area.

The pictures below are a case that we did just this morning.

The patient came in with a little darkened area on one of his molars.

After we got done getting out all of the decay out he was as close as you would ever want to come to getting a root canal. Once the decay gets down into the tooth you are no longer able to get to it with your toothbrush, floss or mouthwash. The bacteria simply set up shop in your tooth and start to multiply. The tooth was saved and things should be okay but the patient had to go through a lot more drilling then they bargained for.

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