Click on a topic of interest for more information.

How Often Should I Visit the Dentist?   /  Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (Early Childhood Caries)   /  Bonding 
Bridges   /   Bruxism "Tooth Grinding"   /   Esthetic Dentistry   /   Crowns  /   Emergencies 
Fluoride   /   Good Diet Helps Promote Healthy Teeth   /   Implants   /   Inlays and Onlays   /   Mouth Guards 
Oral Cancer   /   Root Canal Treatment (Endodontics)   /   Seal Out Decay   /   Tobacco - Bad News in Any Form 
Tongue Piercing   /  Tooth Eruption   /  Veneers   /   Whitening (Bleaching)  /  Wisdom Teeth 

The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends visits to the dentist at least once every six months for a professional exam and cleaning. Regular dental visits are necessary for the maintenance of healthy gums and teeth. Your dentist may recommend more frequent visits, depending on the status of your oral health.

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One serious form of decay among young children is baby bottle tooth decay. This condition is caused by frequent and long exposures of an infant’s teeth to liquids that contain sugar. Among these liquids are milk (including breast milk), formula, fruit juice and other sweetened drinks.

Putting a baby to bed for a nap or at night with a bottle other than water can cause serious and rapid tooth decay. Sweet liquid pools around the child’s teeth giving plaque bacteria an opportunity to produce acids that attack tooth enamel. If you must give the baby a bottle as a comforter at bedtime, it should contain only water.

After each feeding, wipe the baby’s gums and teeth with a damp washcloth or gauze pad to remove plaque. The easiest way to do this is to sit down, place the child’s head in your lap or lay the child on a dressing table or the floor. Whatever position you use, be sure you can see into the child’s mouth easily.

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Bonding restores chipped, cracked, miscolored or misaligned teeth by rebuilding the surface with a resin material. To place the bond, your dentist prepares your tooth with an etching solution. Then special resin materials are blended in colors carefully chosen to match your own teeth. These materials are applied to your teeth, then shaped into just the right contours. Finally, they’re hardened or bonded in place. Bonding provides wonderful results at an affordable cost.

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Thanks to advances in modern dental materials and techniques, your dentist can help you attain the smile you’ve always wanted. The contour, color and alignment of your teeth can be changed by any of the following techniques:

Bonding
Crowns
Veneers
Whitening (Bleaching)

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A crown can be used to cover a fractured tooth, a tooth with a large, old filling, or a tooth that is severely damaged by decay. Crowns strengthen and protect the remaining tooth structure and can improve the appearance of your smile. Crowns are also used to cover teeth that are discolored or badly shaped or to cover a dental implant. Types of crowns include the full porcelain crown, the porcelain-fused-to-metal crown and the all-metal crown. Your dentist can recommend the crown that is best for you.

Fitting a crown requires at least two visits to your dentist. Initially, the dentist removes decay and shapes the tooth. Then he makes an impression and fits a temporary or transitional crown of plastic or metal. On the next visit your dentist will remove the temporary crown, fit and adjust the final crown, then cement it into place.

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Toothache: Clean the area of the affected tooth thoroughly. Rinse the mouth vigorously with warm water or use dental floss to dislodge impacted food or debris. DO NOT place aspirin on the gum or on the aching tooth. If face is swollen apply cold compresses. Take the child to a dentist.

Cut or Bitten Tongue, Lip or Cheek: Apply ice to bruised areas. If there is bleeding apply firm but gentle pressure with a gauze or cloth. If bleeding does not stop after 15 minutes or it cannot be controlled by simple pressure, take child to hospital emergency room.

Knocked Out Permanent Tooth: Find the tooth. Handle the tooth by the crown, not the root portion. You may rinse the tooth but DO NOT clean or handle the tooth unnecessarily. Inspect the tooth for fractures. If it is sound, try to reinsert it in its socket. Have the patient hold the tooth in place by biting on a gauze. If you cannot reinsert the tooth, transport the tooth in a cup containing the patient’s saliva or milk. The tooth may also be carried in the patient’s mouth. The patient must see a dentist IMMEDIATELY! Time is a critical factor in saving the tooth.

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Some of these sources are:

• Too much fluoridated toothpaste at an early age.

• The inappropriate use of fluoride supplements.

• Hidden sources of fluoride in the child’s diet.

Parents can take the following steps to decrease the risk of fluorosis in their children’s teeth:

• Use baby tooth cleanser on the toothbrush in the very young child.

• Place only a pea-sized drop of children’s toothpaste on the brush when brushing.

• Account for all of the sources of ingested fluoride before requesting fluoride supplements from your child’s physician or pediatric dentist.

• Avoid giving any fluoride-containing supplements to infants until they are 6 months old.

• Obtain fluoride level test results for your drinking water before giving fluoride supplements to your child (check with local water utilities).

Healthy eating habits lead to healthy teeth. Like the rest of the body, the teeth, bones and the soft tissues of the mouth need a well-balanced diet. In order to promote good dental health, we should eat a variety of foods from the five major food groups. Most snacks that we eat can lead to cavity formation. The more frequently we snack, the greater the chance for tooth decay. How long food remains in the mouth also plays a role. For example, hard candy and breath mints stay in the mouth a long time, which cause longer acid attacks on tooth enamel. If you must snack, choose nutritious foods such as vegetables, low-fat yogurt, and low-fat cheese, which are healthier and better for your teeth.

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Tooth loss can have an effect on your dental health and personal appearance if not dealt with properly. When you lose or have one or more permanent teeth extracted, your remaining teeth can drift out of position. This can lead to a change in your bite, and/or decay and gum disease, not to mention a change in your personal appearance.

Dental implants are an effective method in replacing one or several teeth. Each implant consists of a metal post that is inserted into the jawbone under your gums. During a healing period, the bone grows around the implant. Then the post is outfitted with an artificial tooth, which is similar to your natural tooth. Implants can also support a bridge, replace a partial denture or secure a fixed denture.

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If you participate in recreational activities and organized sports, injuries can occur. A properly fitted mouth guard, or mouth protector, is an important piece of athletic gear that can help protect your smile, and should be used during any activity that could result in a blow to the face or mouth.

Mouth guards help prevent broken teeth, and injuries to the lips, tongue, face or jaw. A properly fitted mouth guard will stay in place while you are wearing it, making it easy for you to talk and breathe.

Ask your dentist about custom and store-bought mouth protectors.

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To understand endodontic treatment, it helps to know something about the anatomy of the tooth. Inside the tooth, under the white enamel and a hard layer called the dentin, is a soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue and creates the surrounding hard tissues of the tooth during development. The pulp extends from the crown of the tooth to the tip of the roots where it connects to the tissues surrounding the root. The pulp is important during a tooth's growth and development. However, once a tooth is fully mature it can survive without the pulp, because the tooth continues to be nourished by the tissues surrounding it.

Endodontic treatment is necessary when the pulp becomes inflamed or infected. The inflammation or infection can have a variety of causes: deep decay, repeated dental procedures on the tooth, or a crack or chip in the tooth. In addition, a blow to a tooth may cause pulp damage even if the tooth has no visible chips or cracks. If pulp inflammation or infection is left untreated, it can cause pain or lead to an abscess.

Signs of pulp damage include pain, prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold, discoloration of the tooth, and swelling and tenderness in the nearby gums. Sometimes, there are no symptoms.

When a root canal is necessary, the dentist, or endodontist removes the inflamed or infected pulp, carefully cleans and shapes the inside of the tooth, then fills and seals the space. Afterwards, you will return to your dentist, who will place a crown or other restoration on the tooth to protect and restore it to full function. After restoration, the tooth continues to function like any other tooth.

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• A sore that won’t heal

• White or red leathery patches on your lips, and on or under your tongue

• Pain, tenderness or numbness anywhere in the mouth or lips

• Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking or moving your jaw or tongue; or a change in the way your teeth fit together

Children’s teeth begin forming before birth. As early as 4 months, the first primary (or baby) teeth to erupt through the gums are the lower central incisors, followed closely by the upper central incisors. Although all 20 primary teeth usually appear by age 3, the pace and order of their eruption varies.

Permanent teeth begin appearing around age 6, starting with the first molars and lower central incisors. This process continues until approximately age 21.

Adults have 28 permanent teeth, or up to 32 including the third molars (or wisdom teeth).

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Veneers are thin, custom-made shells crafted of tooth-colored materials designed to cover the front side of teeth. Porcelain laminate veneers are commonly used to correct teeth that are stained or discolored, badly shaped or crooked, or damaged due to an injury.

Placing a veneer is usually an irreversible process, because it’s necessary to remove a small amount of enamel from your teeth to accommodate the shell.

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Several options are available to help make your smile brighter and whiter. In-office bleaching, at-home bleaching, or whitening toothpastes.

Zoom 2 takes tooth whitening to a new level. Many systems are now available including toothpastes, self-applied whitening strips, and custom-fit whitening trays. Earlier in-office whitening procedures were tedious and sometimes uncomfortable. The new Zoom 2 is a one-visit office procedure with significant improvement in time, efficiency and comfort level. The newer Zoom 2 procedure takes less than one hour and produces less sensitivity. Ask for the details on your next visit.

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Wisdom teeth, or third molars, are the final teeth to develop in the back of your mouth. Most people have four wisdom teeth, which erupt during our late teens or early twenties.

Oftentimes, problems develop that require the removal of your wisdom teeth. When the jaw isn’t large enough to accommodate them, they can become trapped or impacted. Wisdom teeth may grow sideways, emerge only part way from the gum or remain trapped beneath the gum and bone. In most cases, it is recommended that impacted wisdom teeth are extracted (removed).

Wisdom tooth surgery is performed, usually under local anesthesia, in your dentist’s or oral surgeon’s office, an outpatient surgical facility, or a hospital.