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Showing posts with the label advice

“Does it hurt?” or How do dentists tell if a tooth has a cavity?

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  Most people tend think their teeth are perfect, but once they do decide to visit their dentist, their resolve is shaken. How can your dentist tell if the tooth has a cavity? The dentist examines their teeth and at once they begin to tell that something is wrong if the whole examination took a little while longer to the normal checkup, or if the dentist starts to bring in things off the table, and starts to ask the familiar question: “Does it hurt?”. Many times in our clinic, I have seen reactions from our patients ranging from a stunned gaze all the way to “no, Doc, you are wrong, my teeth are perfect”, and the final result is usually baffling. Telltale signs what if you as a person could look at your own teeth. Can you see any of these features? chipping (little cracks running on the tooth) mamelons (the little knobs that most people have at the edges of their front teeth) white lines or dark lines on the back teeth broken front tooth yellow white spots under the surface yellow bro

Underbite, or is it open bite? Teeth that overlap, or don't. How to tell?

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If you have teeth that don’t meet each other at the front, and you wonder what you should call it properly to your dentist , this is for you. The normal relationship Normally, teeth are designed to meet each other as previously described . This relationship is what is known as a positive overlap of teeth, and dentists know it by its stage name - overbite. Its when the tip of the bottom front tooth strikes the back of the upper front tooth. Under this configuration, the teeth are said to be in contact and further, are able to incise (hence the technical name of the respective tooth - incisor ) or bite food off.  Is it an overlap, or do they touch? Sometimes, teeth can struggle to reach their proper position and touch each other, for example, when a physical obstruction prevents them from doing so , or if adenoids or other systemic diseases exist. When this occurs, we ask our patients to report if the teeth could in fact touch each other on closing on the back teeth. With the sign

Tooth fractures

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If your child fell on their face, you had an accident and your teeth became wobbly, this article is for you. What are tooth fractures? Dental fractures occur when a foreign body collides with the mouth and teeth, for example when falling on the face, whether in children or the elderly, or in car accidents or quarrels, and it may result in a fracture in one or several teeth at once and also may result in tooth bleeding if it involves the root canal of the teeth involved. What are the risks of having a fractured tooth? Broken teeth may result in pain in the area of ​​the tooth that does not subside with painkillers, and it may lead to bleeding of the gums with the teeth if the fracture reaches deep into the jaw and to the bone, and it may also result in the death of dental nerves and the occurrence of ulcers in the lips and cheeks if the fractured tooth is sharp, but if the fracture is smooth, the fracture may reach the tooth nerve, and upon the death of the nerve, there may be the forma

Middle-aged dental problem solving

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  If you are between 40-60 years old, have some broken teeth, have some that are missing or lost due to time, this piece will give you insights on how we decide what to do in your case. Broken teeth only? People usually become busy with life and its toll, and with getting married and having kids. I remember once, as a 16 years old, I witnessed my dad breaking one of his teeth trying to pry open a knot on a plastic bag with his teeth. Its a fact of life that at some point, your teeth shall give in. Like most organs do, and people turn older, and become less active, so does the body and the teeth are no exception. Thus the majority of cases that do show up, tend to have any of these problems.  To save, or not to save? During  dental examination , middle-aged dental patients because lets face it, often more than not, patients want the quick way out. Most ladies and gentlemen we see at  our clinic  come with a myriad of problems ranging from gums that are receded, bad breath, broken teeth,

Dental consultations

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What do we do when checking your teeth? If you ever wondered what do dentists look for in your teeth when you show them your mouth and open up, this article is for you. Hygiene  of your mouth Presence  of caries Position  of caries Depth  of caries Extent  of caries Involvement  of root canals with caries or not Alignment  of teeth And that is just to name a few. In fact, the comprehensive list goes way beyond these perplexing parameters, and by force of habit, all those items are simultaneously checked to every tooth, as soon as you walk in for the first time. For example, did you know that with each patient, we like to know if they have underlying systemic conditions, for example there could be allergies to Latex from gloves or Nickel in the metal braces. I personally had the unfortunate experience of getting rashes and puffy eyes by Latex sensitivity back while I was still in college, before even going into dental school.  What happened to the adage of “Look, Listen, and Feel”? In t

Fangs

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  Ever wondered when you were a child how your teeth all of a sudden split at the front? How about teeth that you suddenly grow high up near your eyes? And why specifically do these teeth matter? What makes them behave that way? If you want to know how can braces solve that problem in children and young teens, read some more. Canines The Canines, also named " Fangs "," Eye teeth ", or just Canines (not that beautiful pet of yours), are the teeth that look like daggers at the front of your mouth. They are the teeth that begin to erupt around the age of nine years, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. They form what we call the corner of the smile, and rightly so, because they occupy the middle, transitional position between the cutters (your front teeth), and the chewers (the back teeth). They are pivotal to getting your smile arc, your facial bones supported, and thus, your age looks. Canines normally erupt, gliding on roots of the neighboring teeth

Things to know when putting on braces

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If you are giving thoughts to braces and are on the fence, here are a few things from your orthodontist (who happens to be fathered by an orthodontist as well, yep that is two generations of braces doctors talking, listen up!). I had my braces back in 2000. My dad did a full course of treatment on me. Some of the things I wanted answered were questions in my mind. As an early teenager, you are just baffled by the fact that these things even exist, and, being of that age group, you know, with all the peer pressure, seeing your friends having these metal things in their mouths, you take the plunge and get your first brace. I’ve compiled a list of the most common questions I could think of, and even was asked as an orthodontist. If you have braces, these are for you: What is it Braces are small attachments that are attached to your teeth with special purpose glue, and are connected together with a wire. What it does Obviously, move teeth, so that you can look better and even smile better.

Why is it important to get your teeth cleaned with braces?

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Braces.. the food magnet. That pretty much sums up the article. Just kidding! Actually, its a little more complicated than that, but we will see to it that you grasp why the practice of regular brushing needs to be enforced, why cleaning is important with braces, and why not cleaning your teeth can hurt your cosmetics on the long run. Like any rough object, it catches stuff.  Because braces are rice grain sized, its very difficult to clean them. A brace is composed of brackets that are attached to the teeth (or glued on, if you will), and wires that connects these brackets in unison. When the bracket is attached to the tooth, the back of the bracket has these sharp objects called (hooks), and wings. It is probably what grazed your lips, or hurt your cheeks  if you never had braces on before. Now when you think about that rice-grain sized object, think about how easy is it for food to get stuck to it.  The rough edges collect the food over time, and the food starts to build up over the

Debunking myths: Single jaw braces

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  Often times in our practice, we meet patients who desire to only fix teeth in either of their jaws, but not both jaws. Proponents of the treatment often say it cuts down on the total treatment time by half, while others claim that the teeth moved do not sit nicely with the opposing teeth and sometimes, the patient is left with a less than desirable outcome. What is single jaw braces? It is when teeth on one jaw are more crooked than the other jaw, giving the patient an impression that only these teeth need fixing. Its a type of treatment where the patient perceives teeth in one jaw fixed, without the necessary need for the teeth to meet the other teeth opposing them.  Why is it important that teeth meet each other? Teeth are designed to chew food, support the face, and reduce food to digestable material, for absorption (or intake of benefits from food into the body, from amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates – the basic needs of the body). Teeth meet eachother in unison, under a speci