My Blog
Archive:
- 2018
- May (7)
- Taking the Right Steps to Prevent Early Tooth Decay in Children
- Mouthguards Reduce Risk of Concussion as well as Dental Injuries
- Your Denture Options
- Bone Loss at the Roots can Put Your Tooth in Danger of Loss
- 3 Possible Timing Scenarios for Getting Your New Implant
- Stop Gum Disease Before it Becomes a Major Health Issue
- 4 Things You Should Focus on During Pregnancy for Optimal Dental Health
- April (6)
- Not Crazy about Flossing? Try a Water Flosser
- Don't Let Sports or Energy Drinks Rob you of Your Teeth's Enamel
- Stay Ahead of Gum Disease Re-Infection with Periodontal Maintenance
- Bad Breath in Children
- Instill Good Dental Habits in Your Child as Early as Possible
- Advances in Porcelain Veneers Improve Both Strength and Appearance
- February (5)
- Children with Chronic Health Conditions may Need Extra Dental Care
- Dentures Require Planning and Attention to Detail to Look Natural
- You may Need Orthodontic Work Before Getting a Dental Implant
- We can Rid You of that Lump in Your Mouth you Keep Biting
- Find out What Kind of Tooth Staining you Have Before Seeking a Solution
- 2017
- November (5)
- Paying Attention to Certain Factors Helps Ensure Successful Implant Outcomes
- Tooth Decay can be Less of a Problem with Minimally Invasive Dentistry
- How Effective is Your Oral Hygiene? Find Out with a Plaque Disclosing Agent
- Support Your Child's Dental Development with Preventive Care
- Treating Gum Disease Important to Saving the Underlying Bone
- July (6)
- The Simple Bitewing X-Ray is a Game Changer for Maintaining Dental Health
- Porcelain Veneers: A Less Invasive Way to Transform Your Smile
- 5 Things you can do to Improve Your Child's Future Dental Health
- Loose Adult Teeth Require Immediate Attention and Treatment
- The Benefits Of Dental Crowns
- You Don't have to Suffer from Irritating Canker Sores
- May (5)
- Protect Your Child's Long-Term Dental Health with Regular Office Visits
- Could Dentures Be Right for Me?
- Get a Dental Exam as Soon as Possible if you Suspect Gum Disease
- Look at Your Options for Saving a Tooth First Before Replacing it
- Artificial Sweeteners are By and Large a Safe Alternative to Sugar
- March (6)
- Attention to Detail Crucial to a Beautiful Smile Supported by Dental Implants
- Your Case of Gingivitis Could Develop into Something More Harmful
- Why Are Porcelain Veneers Effective?
- Be Sure to have These 3 Essentials Covered Beforehand for Veneer Success
- Conscious Sedation can Help Ease Your Child's Dental Visit Anxiety
- All Gum Disease Treatments Have the Same Goal - Removing Bacterial Plaque
- 2016
- November (6)
- Start Early with Your Baby's Dental Care
- Ensure the Best Outcome with the Right Care for a Teen's Missing Tooth
- Dental Implants can Replace Your Whole Tooth, Not Just What You See
- Reduce Your Oral Cancer Risk with Better Diet and Lifestyle Choices
- Teaching Your Child Good Oral Hygiene Habits
- Follow These Common Sense Steps When Your Child has a Toothache
- July (5)
- Though not Always Seen, it's Still Important to Replace a Missing Back Tooth
- 4 Reasons Saving Your Child's Decayed Baby Tooth is a Good Idea
- Antibiotic Resistance Requires Action - and a Change of Attitude
- Thumb Sucking And Your Child's Developing Smile
- Winning the War on Gum Disease Requires Post-Treatment Vigilance
- March (6)
- 4 Advantages to Using Composite Resins for Restoring Teeth
- Persistent Jaw Pain After an Injury Needs Immediate Attention
- Watch for these 4 Signs of Gum Disease
- Support Your Child's Teeth Development with Proper Hygiene and Dental Care
- 3 Ways Your Dental Hygienist Improves Your Oral Health
- The Benefits of Dental Implants
- 2015
- December (5)
- Sleep Apnea and Behavioral Problems in Children: How Your Dentist Can Help
- Did You Know? February Is National Children's Dental Health Month!
- Replacing a Back Tooth May Help You Avoid Future Dental Problems
- Is Dental Treatment Safe During Pregnancy?
- Treating Dry Mouth is Important for Maintaining Good Oral Health
- 2014
- September (6)
- New Partial Dentures More Comfortable and Durable Than Older Models
- New Guidelines Issued for Administering Antibiotics Before a Dental Procedure
- Bone Grafting can put Implants Back on Your Options List
- 5 Oral Health Care Tips To Remember This Summer
- Removing Bacterial Plaque is Critical to Halting Advancing Gum Disease
- Early Detection is Critical to Surviving Oral Cancer
- August (5)
- Our Arsenal of Weapons in the War Against Gum Disease
- Overcome Oral Cancer With Screenings and Lifestyle Changes
- Taking Precautions Before, During and After Implants Will Help Ensure Success
- Home vs. Professional Teeth Whitening - Weighing Your Options
- Preserving or Restoring Teeth - Both Paths Lead to Better Oral Health
- 2013
- October (6)
- Health Risks of Oral Piercings
- Cancer Treatment and Oral Health: What You Should Know
- Treating Thumb Sucking Now Could Reduce Orthodontic Treatment Later
- Patients in Syracuse Seek Veneers to Mask Dental Blemishes
- Loose Teeth - A Sign of Trouble That Requires Quick Action
- Implant Overdentures: a Marriage of Options for Lower Jaw Tooth Replacement
- 2012
- August (7)
- Can Thumb Sucking Harm Your Child's Teeth?
- Testing Your Knowledge: Do Your Children Have Good Oral Health?
- Enhance Your Smile Through Teeth Whitening
- How Do Dental Implants Help Preserve Your Youthful Appearance?
- Are Dental Implants Okay For Teenagers?
- Questions You Should Ask Before Getting Porcelain Veneers
- Your Dentist May Be Able To Help You Stop Snoring
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Dentist Blog
Just like other parts of your physical body, teeth naturally wear as we get older. Just the effect from chewing during hundreds of thousands of meals in a lifetime can take its toll.
But there are some factors that can make tooth wear worse. By addressing them promptly should they arise, you can keep age-related tooth wear to a minimum.
Here are 3 areas to watch for to avoid excessive tooth wear.
Dental disease. Tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease are most responsible for not only the loss of teeth but for compromising tooth health overall. But the good news is they’re largely preventable through proper oral hygiene practices to remove bacterial plaque, the main trigger for these diseases. Prompt treatment when they do occur can also minimize any damage and help your teeth and gums stay strong and healthy.
Your bite. Also known as occlusion, the bite refers to how the upper and lower teeth align with each other when you bite down. When they don’t align properly, regular chewing and biting can create abnormally high forces in the teeth and cause them to wear unevenly and more rapidly. Correcting the bite through orthodontic treatment won’t just improve your smile, it can improve bite function and decrease accelerated tooth wear.
Bruxism. This is a general term describing habits like teeth clenching and grinding in which the teeth forcefully contact each other beyond normal parameters. There are a number of causes for bruxism, but for adults it’s typically related to stress. Over time, bruxism can accelerate tooth wear and cause other problems like TMD. There are a number of ways to stop or at least reduce the effects of bruxism like relaxation techniques or a night guard worn during sleep that prevents the teeth from making forceful contact.
If you suspect you’re experiencing any of these factors, see us for a full examination. We’ll then be able to discuss your condition, the potential impact on tooth wear, and what we can do to protect your teeth.
If you would like more information on protecting your teeth as you age, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “How and Why Teeth Wear.”
Every year dentists place over 5 million dental implants for lost teeth, often removing the problem tooth and installing the implant at the same time. But getting a “tooth in a day” depends on a number of health factors, especially whether or not there’s adequate bone available for the implant. Otherwise, the implant’s placement accuracy and success could be compromised.
Bone loss can be a similar problem when a tooth has been missing for a long period of time. If this describes your situation, you may have already lost substantial bone in your jaw. To understand why, we need to know a little about bone’s growth cycle.
When bone cells reach the end of their useful life, they’re absorbed into the body by a process called resorption. New cells then form to take the older cells’ place in a continuous cycle that keeps the bone healthy and strong. Forces generated when we chew travel through the teeth to the bone and help stimulate this growth. But when a tooth is missing, the bone doesn’t receive this stimulus. As a result, the bone may not replace itself at a healthy rate and diminish over time.
In extreme cases, we may need to consider some other dental restoration other than an implant. But if the bone loss isn’t too severe, we may be able to help increase it through bone grafting. We insert safe bone grafting material prepared in a lab directly into the jaw through a minor surgical procedure. The graft then acts like a scaffold for bone cells to form and grow upon. In a few months enough new bone may have formed to support an implant.
Bone grafting can also be used if you’re having a tooth removed to preserve the bone even if you’re not yet ready to obtain an implant. By placing a bone graft immediately after extraction, it’s possible to retain the bone for up to ten years—enough time to decide on your options for permanent restoration.
Whatever your situation, it’s important that you visit us as soon as possible for a complete examination. Afterward we can assess your options and hopefully come up with a treatment strategy that will eventually include smile-transforming dental implants.
If you would like more information on obtaining dental implants, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.
You’ve invested quite a bit in your new dental implants. And it truly is an investment: because of implants’ potential longevity, their long-term costs could actually be lower than other restorations whose upfront costs might be less.
But to better ensure their longevity, you’ll need to keep your implants and the natural tissues supporting them clean of bacterial plaque, a sticky biofilm that can cause periodontal (gum) disease. Although the implant itself is unaffected by disease, the natural tissues around it can be. An infection could ultimately weaken the bone supporting the implant and lead to its failure.
Such an infection involving implants could advance rapidly because they don’t have the natural defenses of the original teeth. Our natural teeth are connected to the jaw through the periodontal ligament, a collagen network that attaches to both the teeth and the bone through tiny tissue fibers. This connection also provides access to antibodies produced by the body to fight infection.
By contrast, we place implants directly into the jawbone. While this creates a very secure attachment, the implant won’t have the same connection as teeth with the body’s immune system. That means any infection that develops in surrounding tissues can spread much more rapidly—and so must be dealt with promptly.
Treating this particular form of gum disease (known as peri-implantitis) is similar to infections with natural teeth and gums, with one important difference involving the tools we use to remove plaque from them. While natural teeth can handle metal scalers and curettes, these can create microscopic scratches in the porcelain and metal surfaces of an implant and create havens for further bacterial growth. Instead, we use instruments made of plastic or resin that won’t scratch, as well as ultrasonic equipment to vibrate plaque loose.
To avoid an infection, it’s important that you brush your implants and surrounding tissues just like you would your natural teeth (be sure you use a soft-bristled brush). And keep up regular dental visits for thorough cleanings and checkups to stay ahead of any developing gum infection. Maintaining your dentures will help ensure they continue to brighten your smile for a long time.
If you would like more information on dental implants, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implant Maintenance: Implant Teeth Must be Cleaned Differently.”
Durable as well as life-like, dental implants are by far the preferred method for replacing missing teeth. But they can be costly and, although not as much, so can traditional bridgework. Is there an effective but more affordable means to replace a few missing teeth?
There is: a removable partial denture (RPD). In fact, RPDs have always been the less expensive alternative to bridgework and implants. Today's RPDs are usually made of vitallium, a strong but lightweight metal alloy. Because of the metal's characteristics, we can create an appliance that precisely matches the contours of your gums, is thin and hardly noticeable. We anchor prosthetic (false) teeth made of porcelain, resins or plastics in acrylic or nylon that resembles gum tissue.
The most important aspect of an RPD is to design it to produce the least amount of movement in your mouth as you eat or speak. A good design will minimize pressure on both the underlying bone (which can accelerate bone loss) and on the remaining teeth that support the RPD. Although a little more costly, it may be advantageous to use a dental implant to stabilize a lower partial denture when no end tooth is available for support.
To get the most out of your RPD — and to prevent dental disease — it's important for you to practice diligent daily hygiene. RPD attachments can make remaining teeth more susceptible to plaque accumulation, a thin film of bacteria and food particles that can cause tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease. To avoid this you should remove the RPD and thoroughly brush and floss your remaining teeth. You should clean the RPD every day with recommended cleansers. You should also take it out at night while you sleep to discourage further bacterial or fungal growth.
Besides daily care for your RPD and natural teeth, be sure to visit us for cleanings and checkups at least twice a year. Taking care of both your appliance and your mouth will help ensure your RPD serves you for many years to come.
If you would like more information on removable partial dentures or other restoration options, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Removable Partial Dentures: Still a Viable Tooth-Replacement Alternative.”
While the prevention and treatment of tooth decay has improved dramatically over the last half century, it continues to be a major health issue, especially for children. One in four children 5 and younger will develop some form of the disease.
Although tooth decay in children stems from the same causes as in adults — the presence of decay-causing bacteria in plaque, unprotected teeth and the right mix of carbohydrates like sugar left in the mouth — the means by which it occurs may be different. We even define tooth decay differently in children as Early Childhood Caries (ECC), “caries” the dental profession’s term for tooth decay.
ECC highlights a number of cause factors specific to young children, such as: continuous use of a bottle or “sippy cup” filled with juice or other sweetened beverages; at-will breast-feeding throughout the night; use of a sweetened pacifier; or regular use of sugar-based oral medicine to treat chronic illness.
If you noticed sugar as a common denominator in these factors, you’re right. As a primary food source for bacteria, refined sugar is a major trigger for the disease especially if it constantly resides in the mouth from constant snacking or sipping. In fact, it’s the primary driver for a particular pattern of decay known as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (BBTD). This pattern is specifically linked to sleep-time bottles filled with juice, milk, formula or other sweetened beverages, given to an infant or toddler to help soothe them through the night or during naps.
All these factors cause a cycle of decay. To interrupt that cycle, there are some things you as a parent should do: perform daily hygiene with your child to reduce decay-causing bacteria; reduce the amount and frequency of carbohydrates in the diet, particularly sugar; and protect the teeth by having us apply fluoride or sealants directly to the teeth.
Early tooth decay could affect your child's oral health for years to come. With a little care and vigilance, you improve your chances of avoiding that encounter.
If you would like more information on preventing tooth decay in children, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dentistry & Oral Health for Children.”
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