Dental Ideas Straight to the Point

O no! My child broke his front tooth playing sports what do I do? This happens very frequently and is just unavoidable for most children that like to play sports. A simple uncontrolled fall or accidental elbow is all it takes to knock out a tooth. I will give you a couple situations and guidelines to follow if it happens to you. 1st situation- 12 year old Johnny was hit in the face with an elbow and the tooth starts bleeding and is loose and looks slightly out of place. Key point - tooth is still attached to its socket. What to do? Don't panic mom/dad just come right into the dentist and let us evaluate. If tooth is still attached to the socket there is a few very different possibilities for the tooth and we will help you evaluate the situation. Likely if the tooth was displaced there is a high chance the tooth will die and may need a root canal. What will we do? The same day as the emergency we will likely numb your child and try to reposition the tooth to where it sh...

Toothbrushes   Even after several million dollars in research from major companies from Oral B, GUM, and other tooth brush companies. The Toothbrush has not evolved that much since it was first found in China  1498 . It is basically some hair/bristles stuck onto a handle which allows us to remove plaque from the tooth without harming it. However there are two main discoveries we have discovered that has caused a lot of problems for our patients over the years.  1- A toothbrush must be soft or sometimes even ultra soft. When I tell my patients that their oral hygiene is not adequate, they go home and start scrubbing away sometimes for 5 minutes at a time with sufficient force to scrub clean a toilet. They also love the sensation of scrubbing the gums and teeth with a hard toothbrush. It actually should be illegal for toothbrush company to still sell anything other than soft toothbrushs. Many of my older patients against my recommendations still prefer to buy...

Did you know 69 percent of adults from age 35 to 44 has all already lost at least one permanent tooth. by age 50 they have lost 12! What this tell us is that it is not a matter of how but a matter of when. But many of my question ask me this: "I have lost my tooth for several years and It doesn't bother me at all except for the space. Why do I need to replace it?" The truth is you don't have to because ultimately the purpose of teeth are esthetics and function. If it doesn't affect either then it is not a necessity to replace that tooth. That is what every patient wants to hear; however, the truth is that there are unknown costs associated with not replacing that tooth. The cost varies depending on the position of the tooth. Majority of patients are most likely to lose their molar the first big tooth in their mouth because that tooth has been in your mouth since you were six. The second most likely lost tooth is generally the front tooth and that is purely...

My patients always like to ask me can mouth wash replace flossing? What mouthwash is the most effective for my oral health? There are hundreds of different brands of mouthwashes but all of them really just have a few active ingredients- According to the American Dental association these are what they allow in an American mouthwash. Active ingredients that may be used in therapeutic mouthwash include: Cetylpyridinium chloride; - crest prohealth Chlorhexidine;- peridex Essential oils; Listerine Fluoride; ACT  Peroxide. colgate peroxyl mouthwash- Whitening So here is my take on how mouthwashes work. Using mouthwash to to clean your mouth is like using a pouring putting out a candle with bucket full of water. You'll put out the candle but you'll also get everything else in the room wet. When you use antiseptics like chlorhexidine, cetylpridinum chloride and peroxide it kills almost all of the bacteria in your mouth.  That sounds like a great thing doesn't...

Top 6 reasons to bring your child to see the dentist before its too late. My childs teeth are going to fall out anyways why should we treat the cavity? First of all an infection is an infection. I don't care where the infection is on your body . Just because you can not see a stomach or bladder infection does that make the infection any less threatening? When your child is walking around with cavities he/she can develop infections if that cavity remains untreated. Why risk it? Here are a list of ways this can affect your child in the long run Infections can affect/stunt the child's growth and development.   If the tooth has to be extracted or a large portion of the teeth has been decayed the child will tend to have more severe crowding due to inability of the baby tooth to hold the space. This means more expensive orthodontics and less ideal orthodontics in the future.  If the infection reaches the lower tooth bud it can prevent the lower adult teeth from ever...

Every time you drink or eat something cold or hot you feel tiny little shocks go up your teeth? In my last blog I talked about causes of tooth sensitivity. This time I will tell you how to stop and prevent it. Actual tooth problem. If you have an actual tooth problem, meaning the pain lingers (5-10 sec) and is getting progressively worse please come in as an emergency because that tooth needs to be treated asap. This usually means a cavity has progressed to the nerve. Likely you will need a filling or a root canal. Make an appointment with us and we can take you out of pain within an hour of you arriving with minimal discomfort. You can be back in your office or back to your family the same day without any disturbances to your daily life except maybe to avoid chewing on that side until the treatment is completed. We will likely do a "pulpotomy" which is basically a half root canal just to take you out of pain. You will have to return another day to complete the case...

Treating sensitive teeth Teeth sensitivity is a large problem for several of my patients as they get older. How do we determine if you have sensitive teeth vs an actual tooth problem? We need to x ray and inspect your tooth to see if any cavities are present or close to the pulp.  Infections are typically what causes actual tooth pain and not just sensitivity. How can you tell usually? Actual tooth problem Lasts 5-15 seconds with stimulus or without. 3-10 on the pain scale history of infections or deep fillings in the area Gets worse with time. (until the tooth devitalizes then it does get better) Swelling, symptoms with touching the gum above the tooth or biting. Teeth sensitivity. Lasts 1-3 seconds with stimulus, 2-3 pain scale no history of past infections or deep fillings Gets better with time. No other symptoms with touching the gum above the tooth or biting. What Causes tooth sensitivity? - over brushing causing gum recession and small lesions on ...