The sixes that brings us to the Scotts Valley cosmetic dentists

Why we require the services of a Cosmetic Dentist in Scotts Valley? Because we are pretty much conscious about the health of our teeth or we are having some problem with our teeth and requires immediate treatment. We may be requiring the Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist for teeth whitening, enamel shapening, bonding, dental bridges, veneers, gum lifting etc.

1. Teeth Whitening: Teeth whitening are the most casual reason that brings us to the doors of a Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist. We might have encountered embarrassment because of our yellow teeth. The Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist can help lighten the discolored teeth.

2. Enamel shapening: Enamel shapening involves the removal of uneven parts of our tooth enamel and shapening the teeth in a row. The removal of tooth enamel may expose the tooth dentin for ever so it requires the specialized hand of a Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist.

3. Bonding: Bonding involves the applying of certain material that will help you put your teeth in fine shape and order.

4. Dental bridges: Dental bridges involve the inducement of artificial teeth in the hollow parts to replace the infected or lost tooth. The effective fixation of the dental bridges requires the experienced Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist at your service.

5. Veneers: Veneers ultra thin laminates that are made according to the customized requirements. These are used to hide the discolored teeth or to close small gaps between the teeth.

6. Gum lifting: it involves the raising of gum tissues and re- shapening the symmetry of teeth.

For all the above mentioned dentistry services you have to be sure that you are acquiring them from a qualified and experienced Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist. To cross check the reliability of the Scotts Valley Cosmetic Dentist you can refer it to Top3Dentists. It will help you find the names of some of the finest Cosmetic Dentists in Scotts Valley. When we talk about the finest dentist we no where mean the services of some expensive Cosmetic Dentist clinics alone. For more information you can visit us at: www.top3dentists.com/california-cosmetic-dentists/santa-cruz-county-cosmetic-dentists/scotts-valley-cosmetic-dentists.php

How to Achieve a Beautiful Heart Winning Smile with Cosmetic Dentistry

Everybody in this world wants to have a perfect smile. A great smile makes a person look more attractive and self-confident. Cosmetic Dentistry is one of the fastest growing branch of dental care which has experienced incredible development with the new modern tools and technologies. Seattle Cosmetic Dentists have solutions to all types of dental problems. With the use of modern dental technologies help you to change the appearance of your teeth and remove all the defects that affect your smile. There are many cosmetic dentistry procedures available including teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, dental crowns, dental implants.

A teeth whitening procedure is customized according to the dental conditions of the person. Seattle cosmetic dentist, Dr. Roger Anderson uses the latest and safest techniques in his practice and the result is always a dazzling smile. A heart winning smile according to Dr. Anderson, needs a firm evaluation of the whole mouth. Teeth may be crooked, overlapped, broken, worn out with age, discoloured, stained and many more issues needs to be corrected. So it is important to have a highly trained dentist who can look at the full mouth.

After your complete evaluation, all dental issues have to be removed to get a beautiful winning smile. It is important to use advanced teeth whitening technology which is not harmful for tooth enamel.

If you are looking for a cosmetic dentist in Seattle then browse through http://www.top3dentists.com/washington-cosmetic-dentists/king-county-cosmetic-dentists/seattle-cosmetic-dentists.php.

Benefits of Cosmetic Dentistry

Cosmetic dentistry has been widely accepted to be most lucrative option for your lifesytle transformation. It offers a chance to transform your smile from ordinary to a dazzling one. Cracked or misshapen teeth can result from an accident which you have encountered sometime in your life. It is not necessary that you allow such events to affect your appearance and suffer from lack of confidence; cosmetic dentistry is your answer.

Cosmetic dentistry is a gradually becoming one of the most sought after professions in the medical profession. A large number of dentists are specializing in this field since there is a growing demand for this service. You must also know that cosmetic dentistry is not simply about whitening your tooth, but involves many other procedures like dental implants, veneers, dental bridges, white fillings, and cosmetic gum surgery amongst others. Cosmetic dentistry helps you to completely transform your smile and appearance by doing the following:

• Fill up gaps between teeth
• Shaping up uneven tooth and fit them with the rest of the teeth
• Extract wrongly placed teeth and replace them with artificial tooth in a specially designed dental line
• Design braces for shaping up teeth
• Fill up tooth cavity with tooth colored fillings
• Cosmetic dentures to fill up loss of tooth
• Minor face lifts to alter your smile

If you are interested in going in for cosmetic dentistry, it is important to do some research before you select your Top cosmetic dentist. Searching online is by far the best option since it will also fetch you user reviews and other important details. If you are looking for a top los angeles cosmetic dentist in your area its good to search and see the years of experience, training and continuing education.

Los Angeles Smile Makeover for Gummy Smile

A recent survey by the American Academy of Periodontology found that 1 in 4 people felt that their smiles' were too gummy. Dr. Farnoosh, a Los Angeles and Beverly Hills smile makeover specialist, offers an innovative solution

Beverly Hills, California - A smile is one of the first facial characteristics a person notices. For those with imperfect or abnormal smiles, it can be an agonizing ordeal and is avoided at all costs. However, now there are new Los Angeles smile makeover procedures in place to give everyone their perfect smile. Dr. Farnoosh has brought new hope for those people concerned about their "gummy smile."

The results of a recent consumer survey conducted by the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) revealed that almost one out of four individuals that participated in the study felt that their smile revealed too much of their gums or that their teeth appeared longer than they should. These startling results show that nearly 1/4 of the population may not be confident about the appearance of their smile. To hide their "gummy smile," many people who suffer from this condition have compensated by perfecting the art of smiling with closed lips. Dr. Alex Farnoosh, a Beverly Hills periodontist offers an innovative solution.

For people who feel their smile is gummy or shows too much of their teeth, a revolutionary procedure has been developed by a Beverly Hills cosmetic dentist to alleviate this problem. This condition, called a gummy smile, occurs when the lip sits unnaturally high on the gum line, creating a smile exhibiting excess gums. This is often due to either the upper lip being too short or a hypermobile lip.

The rather harsh, traditional treatments of the past for this condition have included cutting and repositioning part of the upper jaw or crown lengthening. Removing part of the upper jaw is not only expensive, but also very painful and risky. Many dentists claim that crown lengthening, which involves cutting back, and re-sculpting the gum line, will correct any gummy smile. Unfortunately, crown lengthening alone either via traditional surgical blade or via laser is often insufficient. While crown lengthening may be effective in diminishing some gummy smiles, it can often create teeth that appear too long producing a "horse-like" appearance.

As an alternative, one of the most effective and least invasive methods that exist to improve a gummy smile is lip lowering. This procedure developed by Dr. Farnoosh, lowers the lip line that covers the gum thereby minimizing the gummy smile and producing a more attractive appearance (view before and after photos). In addition, this procedure can be used in conjunction with crown lengthening, to reshape the gumline around short teeth by removing excess gum. In some cases, the placement of veneers or crowns may also be needed. By combining these techniques in the right manner Dr. Farnoosh brings a "perfect smile" within the reach of his patients.

"The AAP survey shows that there is a large percentage of the population who could benefit from these procedures and may not be aware that they exist," said Dr. Farnoosh. "In the past, the treatment for a "gummy smile" was painful, risky and expensive. My method is safer, less invasive, less costly and the results we have seen over the past 10 years are just outstanding."

About Dr Farnoosh

Dr. Farnoosh is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he earned his M.S. degree and specialty certificate in Periodontology in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Pathology in 1978. He has taught at the University of Southern California (USC) since 1981, where he has held the title of Director of Doctoral and Post Doctoral courses. He also served as admissions chairman for the School of Dentistry. He was promoted to Tenured Associate Professor in 1988 and subsequently to Clinical Professor in the Department of Periodontology.

Request a consultation with Dr. Farnoosh or call his office at 310-657-0503 to find out more about his procedures and flexible financing options or visit Top3dentists for more information.

Various Types of Dentures

Overdentures
An overdenture is a precision device that is secured by dental attachments. Types of overdentures include bar joint dentures and telescopic dentures. Over dentures are basically any non-permanent tooth replacement appliance that is worn over your existing teeth or their remnants, replacing missing teeth with false teeth. With the advent of modern dentistry, making teeth removal safer and far less painful, over dentures are sometimes a cost effective alternative to implants, and certainly a better choice than full dentures, if they can be avoided.

Today, teeth that seem beyond hope are usually extracted before the insertion of an over denture, although there may be times when those teeth can be salvaged for the patient's best interest. Currently, the most commonly seen over denture involves teeth that have had root canal procedures. If the roots of these teeth are still healthy, the crown may be cut off at the gum line and a removable device fitted over the remaining stumps. Often, your dentist will place a filling material or cast metal copings over the stumps first to help protect them from decay.

The great benefit to this is that the roots of these teeth help preserve the bone that supports them. This bone, that is vital to supporting the denture, would otherwise quickly resorb. Also, the root itself serves as a vertical foundation for the denture, providing for more stability than would otherwise be possible.

The addition of a soft denture material such as CuSil on the denture surface that directly covers the stiff root stumps permits the overdenture to sit more snugly into the soft tissue on the roof of the mouth. This allows for more suction to build up and will usually improve the retention of an overdenture.

Implant Retained Dentures
A full set of implants can be cost prohibitive for many people, however, a minimum of two implants can retain a lower denture, which may not have been tolerated by that patient otherwise. Generally speaking, more than two implants are required for upper implant retained dentures.

Even though the dentures that fit over implants are significantly higher priced than standard dentures, they present the benefit of allowing upper dentures to be created in the shape of an arch instead of having to cover the entire palate. This is of special importance to people who have severe gagging reflexes, and probably could not wear full dentures because of that.

Implant retained dentures are also of particular value to patients who cannot wear lower dentures. As a toothless patient ages, and the bone continues to resorb, lower ridges often fade away entirely. This leaves no vertical bone underneath the gums to steady a lower denture. The placement of just two implants in the front of the lower jaw can make it possible to retain a lower denture, which would otherwise not be possible for the patient to endure.

Mini Implant Retained Dentures
Mini implants, first introduced in the late 1990's, have come to be the gold standard for holding lower dentures. An attractive feature is that they can usually be inserted into the lower jaw without having to cut an incision into the gums. Anesthesia is generally injected immediately into the position for each individual implant only. The original lower denture may then be retrofitted for immediate placement over the new implants. Also, patients who have been advised that they may not have enough bone left to consider standard implants are often candidates for minis, since they are only the size of a basic toothpick.

Another nice feature is that this can all be achieved in under an hour. It is virtually pain free, and usually creates very little postoperative discomfort. In conclusion, this procedure is far less costly than standard implants for retaining lower dentures.

Duplicate Dentures
When a full denture is first created, it is often an affordable option to order a duplicate set made at the same time. Duplicate dentures are made by flowing liquid agar around the finished denture and allowing it to harden. Agar is a thick, gelatin-like material made from seaweed, which is liquid when hot, but cools to form a supple, rubbery substance. The original denture is then removed from the agar mold, leaving a hole in the agar where the denture used to be. Liquid plastic is then used to fill in the mold; white plastic in the tooth indents and pink to form the foundation and flanges. The two halves of the agar mold are then placed back together and the liquid plastic is allowed to solidify.

Duplicate dentures are not particularly high quality since the plastic used to create them is somewhat porous and less resilient to wear, and they may not appear as natural as the original set, however they do provide a great alternative to going without if the primary denture is lost or must be sent out for repair, et.

The duplicate denture is generally given tot he patient with no follow up fittings or treatments for sore spots, etc, since they are made inexpensively and are meant to be used only in emergencies.

Types of Dentures

In this article we will discuss three of the four basic types of full dentures. These are the standard dentures, the immediate dentures, and the Cu-Sil dentures. In future articles we will go into detail regarding implants, and the implant retained denture, another alternative.

The Standard Denture

Usually, the back of a standard denture ends just behind the hard bone in the roof of the mouth. This is because they require as much surface area as possible to maximize their retention and stability. In the case of patients who struggle with gagging, however, the dentist will trim the denture forward, making its base resemble more of an arch shape. This does help the gagging reflex, however, some stability is relinquished.

Standard dentures are usually made for patients who are already missing all of their teeth. The top denture depends on suction to hold it in place, and the solidity of the underlying tissues for its strength. It generally takes at least four appointments to create a set of standard dentures.

The first appointment consists of an oral examination, usually x-rays, and a set of impressions of the upper and lower edentulous (toothless) ridges (gums). These impressions are poured, using plaster, to form accurate models of the shape of the edentulous ridges. Other considerations are determined such as the coloring, size and shape of the teeth that will be used for the new dentures.

Sometimes the dentist will suggest surgical alteration of the ridges to remove excess flabby tissue which will interfere with the stability of the new denture, and sometimes to alter the shape of the underlying bone, creating a better fit. In most cases, this surgery will not be necessary, however, it may make a much more satisfactory final fit. Modifications like these are generally time and money well spent, if your dentist recommends them.

The second appointment will generally consist of determining how long to make the new teeth, deciding the plane of the tooth setup. A guideline is, when you smile, the teeth should be parallel to a line between the pupils of your eyes, and the correct relationship of the upper and lower teeth so that when you bite together, the upper and lower teeth line up correctly. This is done using a loose fitting denture base and a rim of wax to determine the position of the teeth.

Both upper and lower wax rims are carefully adjusted to fit properly in the patient's mouth so he can speak correctly without the wax rims clicking together, and so that the upper and lower rims fit together squarely. Preferably, the wax rim should be visible a little below the patient's lip when the lip is at rest. When the patient smiles, the position of the lip is marked in the wax to help the lab decide which set of teeth are suitable for this patient. Once these relationships are accurate, the rims are sent to the lab where they are used to fabricate the wax try in.

The third appointment is for the wax try in. The laboratory has returned the loosely fitting tray from the second appointment with the true final plastic teeth lined up along the outer edge of the wax rim. The wax try in appears just like a real denture, other than the foundation sits loosely on the gums, and the teeth are implanted in wax instead of what will be plastic.

This gives your dentist a chance to see how the denture looks and works before the final setup. During this step things can still be readily adjusted, by sending the denture back to the lab, where a skilled technician can re-melt the wax and set the teeth to a different specification.

Your dentist will undoubtedly refit your denture as many times as necessary until the teeth look and function as they should. When everything is ideal, the denture will be sent back to the lab to be processed and finished. The old loose fitting foundation and all the wax will be discarded, and replaced by a snug fitting plastic denture base.

The fourth appointment is usually the insertion date when the patient walks out of their dentist's office with new dentures. The plastic does tend to contract during processing, so some adjustment is typically required before they will maintain the suction that you might associate with a new denture.

Immediate Dentures

Immediate dentures, also often referred to as temporary dentures, are in fact made prior to the natural teeth being extracted. The patient goes into their dentist's office with natural teeth, and walks out the same day with dentures. Their teeth are extracted, and a prefabricated denture is inserted immediately over the unhealed gums. The patient is still numb from the extractions, and really won't feel any discomfort until later at home. Usually, most patients do not mention too much pain after their teeth are extracted and the immediate denture is inserted. The denture acts like a pressurized band aid, helping to reduce pain.

The manufacture of an immediate denture necessitates only one or two preliminary appointments before the insertion date, depending on how many natural teeth the patient has left to extract, ect. They generally work out relatively well. When the patient leaves, he certainly looks much better than when he came into the office. The bone that maintained the original teeth is still intact, and the gum tissue is secure. For at least the first week, the immediate denture will remain secure and fairly well retained.

For the most part of cases, immediate dentures simply become permanent dentures, however there are large amount of issues related with immediate dentures that may cause the patient to desire new dentures made after their gums have fully healed, in about a year. These issues account for the alternative name, temporary dentures.

If the patient has more than one or two remaining front top teeth, it is frequently unfeasible to do a wax try in. The denture teeth are placed in about the same position as the natural teeth before extraction. Even though the denture teeth will be straight, their position may not be perfect because there is no way to preview them as the dentist normally would with a standard denture. For this reason, not everyone will be happy with the finished look of their immediate denture, and may desire a new one at the end of about a year.

After all of the natural teeth have been extracted and the immediate denture is placed, there will be a rather quick loss of the bone that used to hold the natural teeth in place. By the end of about three weeks, enough bone has been lost that there is a great deal of space between some parts of the denture and the healing gums. This leads to ever-increasing slackness and sore spots which must be removed recurrently. In some offices, the dentist will include a free temporary "soft" reline at about one month after the extraction and insertion date. This is an uncomplicated way to tighten the denture against the gums, and since the material is a bit rubbery, and frequently medicated, it makes the denture much more comfortable until enough healing has taken place to do a permanent "hard" reline, usually at an additional charge.

At the end of 4 to 6 months, the immediate denture must be relined with the same acrylic that the denture base was made from originally. The hard reline is a separate procedure and the cost is normally not included in the original price of the immediate denture. Consequently, the immediate denture ends up costing a little more than the standard denture when the price of the reline is taken into account. The hard reline defines the official transition of the immediate denture into a standard denture.

Cu-Sil Dentures

There are a significant amount of problems connected with full dentures, and not everyone can effectively bear them. In many cases, false teeth are not particularly useful due to maintenance or steadiness problems. On this basis, even a single healthy tooth left in place can steady an otherwise unstable full denture.

Just of late it has become feasible to develop a denture leaving an outlet here and there to allow any remaining teeth to thrust through without destroying the suction which usually holds the denture in place. The Cu-Sil denture has these outlets for any remaining natural teeth. These outlets are encircled by a gasket of stable silicone rubber which hugs the natural teeth and allows the rest of the denture to rest against the gums giving the advantage of suction in addition to the wonderful stability presented by the immobility of the natural teeth.

CuSil dentures help stabilize loose teeth and may even prolong their lives. It is also simple to replace lost natural teeth with the CuSil denture, and the denture can be relined like any other standard denture. The versatile CuSil denture can finally, should the need arise, be altered into a regular full denture if the patient one day loses all the natural teeth.

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The Difficult Truth About Dentures

Most dentists who have been in practice any length of time have probably made quite a few complete sets of dentures. These occur often in cases when patients go in with old sets that need to be replaced. There are also cases in which the patients go in to see a dentist with their teeth in such bad condition that there is literally no other affordable option. However, sometimes young people may go into a dentist's office with numerous teeth that have what they believe are non-repairable cavities, or they may not like the appearance of their teeth because they are crooked. They assume that dentures will be a simple way to correct all their problems.

Many of these people have avoided going to the dentist because they are afraid of what the dentist will think, or afraid of what will happen to them once they get there. Let me try, in this article, to clear up a few important points.

Your Fear of the Dentist

Any fear you have of going to the dentist, and the pain you may experience while being worked on is completely out of proportion to the actual discomfort you will feel while you are there.

Modern dentistry is designed to care for you in such a way that you will feel very little pain at all during your visits. In fact, your dentist can even give the very anxious patient medicine to take just before their appointment time, to help them relax, so that even their fears are lessoned.

Full Dentures Should be Your Last Resort

You cannot even imagine how disappointed you may be with full dentures. You do not naturally lose your teeth when you get old. With a little care, anyone can keep their teeth all their life! Having full dentures is not at all like having real teeth. People with them can barely chew their food. Most people can put just an average of 15% of the pressure on their false teeth as they normally used to chew their food with, before they lose the suction that keeps the top denture in their mouth. The lower ones have no suction at all and they just sit there by virtue of their own weight, and the ability of the tongue to help them stay in place. Many people find lower dentures so cumbersome that even if the top ones are reasonably successful, they do not wear the lowers except when they go out in public.

Nearly the instant the natural teeth are removed, the face begins to age rapidly. When your new dentures are inserted for the first time, your facial appearance remains the same, for the time being, however within a very short amount of time, the bone that held your original natural teeth begins the process of resorption, literally disappearing, which begins the process of collapsing your facial structure.

Wearing dentures rapidly accelerates the aging progression of your face because the distance between your nose and your chin begins to diminish as soon as the natural teeth are removed. The bone that used to hold your top natural teeth begins to draw back up toward your nose, and the bone that held the lower natural teeth "goes south", allowing both the top and bottom false teeth to ride with them in the same directions. Within just the first few months, your face has aged several years. As a result, the denture teeth ultimately begin to disappear under your lips while the lips themselves begin to flatten out. This process continues for the rest of your life, as you will always appear much older than you actually are. The rapid aging usually has a profound effect on the emotional well-being of the patient, and can unfortunately affect their ability to gain employment and be socially active.

Dentures Must be Refitted Every Two Years

Approximately every two years you must go back to your dentist to have your dentures relined. What this means is that new plastic must be added to the inside of your existing denture in order to fill in the spaces between the denture and your gums left have been left vacant by the receding bone. Relines do not actually restore vertical dimension, but they do help keep the denture fitting tight and stable. If you fail to reline the denture regularly the consequences will not be good. As the bone continues to recede and more and more space becomes vacant inside the denture, most people will begin wearing some type of stiff denture adhesive to maintain the denture stability in their mouths. They tend not to notice that the teeth move around more and more while they are chewing their food. When a denture retains suction, but begins to move around over the bony ridge that supports it, dentists say that the denture has good retention, however it lacks stability. When the hard denture base is in close approximation to the bone that supports it, the denture has maximum stability, but as the distance increases, no matter what type of substance you put under it, the teeth become less and less secure and are much more easily dislodged when chewing food.

People just try to live with this worsening condition and they plan to get new dentures, someday, when the difficulty becomes so serious that they can not eat properly at all. However, if they have waited over two years to refit their denture, something very unfortunate begins to happen to the tissue that supports the denture. Nature begins to actually create more gums between the bone and the denture to take up the slack. At first this sounds good, but the gum tissue that nature builds after the real teeth are gone is soft and flabby. You can compare it to a layer of play dough. Of course, play dough will adhere to a wall, and it has some retention values, however it won't support any weight and it certainly has no stability. That is just like the loose new gum tissue that forms under an ill fitting denture, it will not support a new stable denture.

If your dentist attempts to fit a new denture over a growth of this flabby tissue, it will have the same stability problems that the old one did unless you first go to an oral surgeon to have the tissue removed before your denture is made.

If you get to the point when you are needing to use more than just a touch of denture adhesive to retain your denture, then you are due for a reline. Do not try to fit something under your denture to make up for the gap as a makeshift "denture liner". Using anything other than actual denture adhesive is a bad idea because the denture breath gets pretty sour very quickly.

The Gag Reflex

If you have a strong gag reflex, and avoid going to the dentist because of this, be assured that your dentures will cause you to gag too. Perhaps the saddest group of patients that dentists must try to treat are those who hate their dentists because they tend to gag when anyone, especially the dentists, put something in their mouths. These patients have the idea firmly in their minds that they will just wait until their teeth get so bad that a dentist will just have to put them to sleep, remove all their teeth and they will wake up with dentures and live happily ever after.

Certainly, you can wait that long to see a dentist. And, although it is very costly, you can have all of your teeth extracted at once, while under general anesthesia and have an immediate denture placed. However, I am not too certain about the "happily ever after" part. Gaggers tend to go without their dentures quite a bit, because the very presence of the denture in their mouths makes them feel like throwing up all the time. They begin to avoid accepting invitations to eat out, and will wear their dentures only when it is absolutely necessary. The only real hope these patients have is if they can someday afford full mouth implants.

Are There Affordable Alternatives to having all the Teeth Removed?

The missing teeth and teeth that are beyond repair can be replaced without extracting the remaining good teeth. They can be replaced using removable partial dentures. Partial dentures are much more comfortable and secure than full dentures. They do not have to cover the entire roof of your mouth for stability because they are kept secure by the remaining natural teeth. Even the existence of a few natural teeth remaining on either side of the dental arch can make it feasible to wear a partial denture as an alternative to full dentures. The presence of any number of real teeth can greatly reduce, although not completely eliminate, the hastened aging process related to having full dentures.

Having said all of this, there certainly always will be some patients who truly do need to have all their teeth removed. For them, we will be posting an article describing the different types of dentures, and the steps involved in making them.

Visit this website for more information www.Top3dentists.com

Considering Dentures?

In this article we will give you a basic overview of the pros and cons of dentures, to help you make an informed decision. In future articles, we will go into each area with much more detail.

Pros and Cons of a Dentures

Advantages:

• Dentures will unquestionably provide you with a great smile and a very natural appearance. They are made of durable materials and will last very long when correctly taken care of. Normally dentures last from five to ten years. They can also correct numerous problems, from speech to chewing, for many patients.

• Replacing missing teeth will benefit your appearance and your health.

• Dentures help keep facial muscles from sagging, which can make a person look older.

• You'll be able to eat and speak - things that people often take for granted until their natural teeth are lost. If you have had trouble with your natural teeth for a number of years, you might not have been able to eat the foods you wanted or speak comfortably for quite a while. You will be able to smile again. Some denture wearers have said that simply being able to smile again really changed their entire outlook on life.

Disadvantages:

• There is no question that dentures will take some getting accustomed to. There is regular maintenance required, and initial speech issues to overcome, although these should be temporary, lasting only a couple of days. Mouth tenderness or abrasions may occur, but are usually caused by poor dental hygiene, and not removing your dentures when needed.

• It is normal for your mouth to change over the life of your dentures, so even though they last long, they still may need to be replaced to achieve a better fit before they are actually worn out. With age, the gum ridges in our mouths can shrink, causing dentures to become loose. Bone can also shrink, causing jaws not to line up properly. Loose dentures can cause sore spots in your mouth as well as stomach problems from not being able to chew food properly. A loose denture could also cause changes in your facial features.

• With a denture a person typically chews at only 15-25% efficiency compared to a person chewing with their natural teeth. In the case of a full upper denture, the upper palate is covered which may change or reduce the taste of foods you are eating.

Who may be a Candidate for Dentures?
If you have lost, or are in the process of losing all of your teeth, a complete denture is something to discuss with your cosmetic dentist. If some of your teeth remain and are healthy, a partial denture may be your way to a good, healthy smile.

This process should be thoroughly discussed with your dentist as there are numerous personal and medical factors to consider. You may instead be a candidate for dental bridges or dental implants as possible procedures.

An Overview of Dentures
If teeth are lost or must be extracted, dentures provide an easily removable replacement that can be fashioned to look very much like natural teeth. Dental implants are the fixed alternative to full dentures. New advancements in dentistry have led dentures to become more comfortable and better fitted to your gums. Your dental specialist will carefully position the denture, and construct it so that it fits properly on your gum and against your other teeth when you bite down. “Neuromuscularly” fitted dentures provide the most comfort.

Dentures are detachable replacements for missing teeth, that are usually made out of an acrylic resin which may at times incorporate porcelain or metal for supplementary structural support. There are two main types of dentures, complete and partial. Both complete dentures and partial dentures are finely crafted and custom-fitted to the individual patient. If you correctly take care of your dentures they will appear natural and provide you with a perfect smile and a great bite. Additionally, dentures will help to strengthen the muscles controlling your expressions that require the support of your teeth, ridding you of pronunciation problems caused by missing teeth and aid with chewing.

How are Dentures Accomplished? It is fairly common to require some teeth to be extracted, and surgery in some cases is necessary to improve the bony ridges that will stabilize your dentures.

The procedure begins with a wax bite impression of your mouth that will give your dentist exacting measurements. A try-on appointment will fine tune the color, shape, and custom-fit of your dentures. After your final dentures are fabricated, they will be placed and you will be instructed on their required care.

Types of Dentures:

1. Complete Dentures These replace all of your teeth, both upper or lower. Their comfort depends on muscle tone, bone stretgh, tongue, and amount of saliva present. Patients begin wearing their conventional dentures after the gums have healed from the teeth that were pulled.
2. Immediate Dentures Immediate dentures are placed all at once, right after your natural teeth are pulled, and may require additional adjustments after the healing process. It can take months for your bone and tissue to stabilize after tooth extractions.
3. Upper Dentures Upper dentures tend to be a bit easier to adjust to. These are made of the same materials as a set of complete dentures, but are designed to provide you with upper teeth only.
4. Over Dentures Over dentures are a type of conventional denture comparable to complete dentures. The difference is that not all teeth are extracted and they use one or more of your natural teeth for their support. This type provides greater stabilization during chewing. Over dentures cost more and usually require more preparation dental appointments until the procedure is fully complete.
5. Partial Dentures Partial dentures are designed to correct the gaps in your smile when only some of your teeth are missing. Metal attachments fasten the dentures to your natural teeth. Partial dentures maintain tooth alignment by preventing your remaining teeth from shifting. Partial dentures can also help prevent your loss of further teeth due to decay or gum disease.

How Much do Dentures Cost?
Costs will vary depending on where you live and your specific needs. These are procedures for which you should definitely research your dental insurance coverage. Much of the cost is often covered, and you may be able to work out a payment plan with your dental office for your co-payments.

TMJ Disorder and Further Treatment Options

What Doctors Treat TMJ Disorder?
Given that TMJ disorder sufferers have so many diverse symptoms, management can include numerous different physicians of varying specialties. Headaches may be treated by a neurologist, ear pain can be evaluated by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist, and pain can be treated by a pain management specialist. A dentist may utilize splints to correct bite issues, while an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (OMS) can assist with both surgical and non-surgical interventions. Other healthcare professionals that may form part of a patient's care team can include Physiotherapists, Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Orthodontists, Nutritionists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Massage Therapists, and of course the family doctor (PCP or GP).

It is well worth noting, however, that a well-qualified dentist, using the correct procedures, can often alleviate many of the other symptoms involved in your TMJ disorder, lessening the need for any other professional care.

Alternative medicine
Because stress has been shown to contribute to TMJ disorders, stress-relieving relaxation techniques may reduce jaw clenching or teeth grinding and help alleviate TMJ disorder symptoms. Possible beneficial techniques include:

• Deep breathing. To practice deep breathing, sit comfortably on a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Breathe in deeply through your nose, and allow your abdomen to expand as you breathe in. Hold for just a second, and then exhale through your mouth, gently pushing in your abdomen with your hand.

• Progressive muscle relaxation. This involves relaxing a series of muscles one at a time. Begin increasing the tension level in a group of muscles, such as a leg or an arm, by tightening the muscles and then relaxing them. Then move on to the next muscle group. It may also prove beneficial to apply warm, moist heat.

• Guided imagery. Also known as visualization, this method of relaxation involves lying quietly and imagining yourself in a wonderful, lovely place. Your ideal vacation or getaway. Allow yourself to completely experience the setting with all of your senses, as if you were essentially there. For example, imagine lying on the deck of your sailboat as it coasts along the Mediterranean Sea. Picture the perfect azure sky, smell the salt water, hear the sounds of the soft waves, and feel the warmth of the golden sun on your skin. The messages your brain receives as you experience these senses help you to relax.
  

There are some TMJ sufferers who are actually unaware of the cause of their condition. Many people, who technically have TMJ disorder, manage with their symptoms, since they do not interfere severely with their lives. Patients with TMJ disorder quite often grind their teeth to find a comfortable bite. This causes flat areas on the tops of the teeth called occlusal wear facets. Wear facets often fit together revealing the bite that the body has been trying to create. Constant grinding also flexes and dissolves tooth roots. A notch at the bottom front of the tooth called an abfraction. Many hygienists confuse this for overzealous tooth brushing, but there are many patients who never brush who still have them.

When a patient's jaw joints or jaw muscles are irritated, there can be deviation of the lower jaw to one side on opening. This is called mandibular opening deviation. For a variety of reasons, the human face does not always grow symmetrically. Facial asymmetry can cause TMJ problems. Repeated jaw muscle spasm can cause muscle shortening with limited opening. Looking at the side of a person's face, you can often make out the lower jaw. The bottom of the lower jaw is typically parallel to the floor. Conversely, many TMD patients have a sharp downward angle. This TMJ symptom is called a sharp mandibular plane angle.

TMD sufferers often have speech irregularities that add to their muscular and functional problems. A dished out profile can be an indicator of a TMJ problem. It is often seen in patients who have a shortened facial height, which forces the TMJ towards the ear. As a defensive reflex, the body uses the chewing muscles to pull the jaw joint forward. This can often bring on muscle spasm and pain. Like a dished out profile, a short lower facial third can be a reflection of this same problem.

Another TMJ disorder symptom is when the corners of the mouth get red, swollen and painful. It's called angular chelitis and is also seen when denture patients are wearing worn out dentures. An imbalance in the chewing and facial muscles occasionally causes an uncharacteristic lip posture, which can cause the face to look unusual. The horizontal facial fold under the lip and above the chin can be excessive. This is called a deep mentalis crease. It is not uncommon for a TMJ patient to have a forward head posture. This abnormal posture causes the head to be positioned forward. It stretches the anterior neck muscles and pulls the lower jaw backward into the patient's ears.

It is not unusual to see swelling of a TMJ sufferer’s face. This TMJ symptom is called facial edema. Some sufferers have unusual movements of their necks (cervical torticollis) and lower jaws. (mandibular torticollis). Headaches truly plague TMJ sufferers. The most common TMJ related headache is a located on the side of the head over the area of the temple. This is called a temporal headache and is often misdiagnosed as a migraine.

The disparity of a TMJ patient's facial, chewing and neck muscles can cause problems swallowing. This is called dysphagia. Because of the instability of the jaw, head and neck, cervical problems are frequent. This can lead to occipital headaches located at the back of the head. Postural problems are a characteristic TMJ disorder symptom. This abnormal posture may be due to the modification of the body to mouth breathing and the need to hold the head forward to breathe better. In severe cases, forward posture can cause thoracic outlet syndrome and paresthesia of the fingertips. (Paresthesia is an abnormal or unexplained tingling, pricking, or burning sensation on the skin)

Deprogrammers
The idea of deprogramming is based on the reflexive relaxation of the lower jaw when the back teeth are not allowed to engage. The various muscles that open and close the jaw learn and remember the level of contraction required to execute their movements in a coordinated, relaxed way. They learn which positions of these muscles cause pain, and which don't, and store all the information in your brain in the form of "engrams" which are similar to automatic, unconscious computer programs that your body uses each time you open or close your mouth. In persons with TMJ disorder, these movements can be quite complex.

The Treatment of TMD

The Bruxing Guard

The solution to treating these patients is to decrease the patient's inclination to clench and grind her teeth. Even if, when the teeth are closed together, and the joints do not line up correctly, all the symptoms tend to fade away if the patient does not tend to keep the teeth together with the forces distinctive of bruxing. The most conventional and least expensive treatment for TMD is the construction of a hard acrylic bruxing guard (flexible plastics are now being used as well). These are horseshoe-shaped plastic appliances, which usually fit over the top teeth and have a smooth surface on the underside so the lower teeth can slide over the plastic without resistance. This prevents the teeth from locking together, and relieves a lot of the force placed on the teeth and joints. If an appliance like this is worn long enough, the bruxing habit may ultimately disappear altogether, which would be the ideal treatment goal if it always happened. Unfortunately, bruxing guards still allow the patient to clench against the guard. Since clenching is linked with overuse of the temporalis muscle, patients may still encounter tension headaches even though they wear their guard religiously.

The Bite Adjusted Bruxing Guard

Bruxing guards perform even better if they are structured so that when the lower teeth come in contact with the appliance, the joints are forced to sit in their most natural, relaxed positions in the most upper part of the socket. This position can be determined quite simply by a process known as deprogramming during which a piece of plastic is inserted over the top front teeth that does not allow the posterior teeth to make any contact. Usually, within an hour or so of wearing one, the jaw has relaxed into a more natural position with the joints in a more desirable position. A bite registration is then taken with the deprogramming device in place so the new bruxing guard can be designed to the new bite-adjusted jaw position, which corresponds to a more physiologically acceptable joint position. Deprogramming has an additional advantage in that if it works, it will relieve the symptoms very quickly and can be worn until the more permanent bruxing guard can be built.

The main disadvantage with this treatment modality is that your teeth do not look any better after you have cured the pain associated with TMJ disorder, and if the bruxing habits do not disappear on their own, the patient must continue wearing a bruxing guard whenever he is likely to be bruxing. In addition, patients still can clench against any bruxing guard. Therefore, even a correctly balanced bruxing guard will not consistently relieve all tension or migraine headaches, even though it usually will lessen their occurrence. The major advantage to this treatment modality is that it is economical and can often alleviate long-standing pain that has been a major impediment to a normal lifestyle for many years.

The Orthodontic Option

Another treatment option is orthodontics. In this case, the natural teeth are moved into a more correct position that allows the joints to sit correctly in their sockets. The correct position is established through a science called cephalometrics, which is a subcategory of diagnostic x-rays. A tremendous side effect of considering orthodontics to treat TMJ disorder, is that not only will you be left with a lovely smile when all is said and done, but the process is much more likely to break the bruxing habit than nearly any other treatment, as well.

We recommend considering checking out this website for referrals to highly qualified dentists who specialize in TMJ disorders:

http://www.top3dentists.com/pages/tmj

Sleep Apnea From a Dentist's Perspective

Dentists play a very important role in the team approach to the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Physicians, dentists, psychologists, and respiratory therapists all combine their collective knowledge to treat each patient properly and effectively.

Dentists who are specifically trained in aspects of sleep medicine and have a command of multiple appliance modalities are of immense help to physicians in treating sufferers with sleep disordered breathing problems.

Snoring

Nearly one-half of all adults snore. The problem is exaggerated with overweight persons.
Snoring occurs when there is a partial obstruction to the free flow of air through the mouth and nose. The sound occurs when loose structures in the throat, like the uvula and soft palate, vibrate as air passes over them. Snoring can get worse when the muscles in the back of the throat are too relaxed either from drugs taken to help induce sleep or alcohol intake. Snoring can also be caused by an overly large uvula and soft palate, nasal congestion, a deviated septum or other obstructions in the nasal and pharyngeal airways. In children, large tonsils and adenoids can be the cause of snoring. Pregnant women often snore because of a narrowing of the airway and increased weight due to the pregnancy.

Is Snoring Serious?

Yes, snoring can be serious both socially and medically. Snoring can bring great disharmony to marriages and cause sleepless nights for our bed partners.

Medically, snoring can be the forerunner of obstructive sleep apnea that has been associated with heart failure, high blood pressure and stroke. On its own, snoring has been connected to Type II Diabetes. Sleep apnea typically interrupts loud snoring with an episode of silence in which no air passes into the lungs. Eventually the lack of oxygen and the increase of carbon dioxide will awaken you forcing the airway to open, usually with a loud gasp.

The CPAP

The most frequently prescribed medical treatment for OSA is the “Continuous positive airway pressure” unit, or CPAP (pronounced "C-Pap") and a newer variation called BiPap. These apparatuses have a high flow fan, a hose and a sealed nasal mask to which the patient is attached to while sleeping. Clinical studies have shown that CPAP is highly effective in relieving most apnic episodes. In addition to the CPAP unit, physicians usually prescribe a weight loss regimen, and abstinence from tobacco and alcohol. Unfortunately, patient compliance is generally a problem due to the noise of the air compressor, the constriction of movement caused by the hose attachment, stuffy nose and skin irritation caused by the nosepiece, and complaints of being able to have less intimacy with a bed partner.

Due to these and many other complaints from users of the CPAP units, OSA research teams carried out extensive trials on mandibular advancement appliances (airway dilators, or "snore guards"). These projects and trials resulted in a 1995 review by the American Sleep Disorders Association. The review determined that oral appliances are a good alternative to CPAP in cases of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea.

The dental treatments for obstructive sleep apnea are superior to the CPAP unit from the point of view of patient compliance. Dentally oriented treatments for this problem fall into two groups; detachable appliances that advance the lower jaw while the patient is asleep, (airway dilators, more commonly known as snore guards) and surgical solutions, some of which advance the lower jaw permanently.

If an actual case of obstructive sleep apnea is assumed, the dentist normally uses his skills in conjunction with the help of a qualified physician specialist who can assess the need for, and ultimately the success or failure of the treatment. This makes sense since it is the physician who can order and construe the medical tests involved in the institution of the foundational diagnosis.

The Detachable OSA Appliances (Snore guards)

Anything that advances the lower jaw forward (bringing it into protrusion) will cause to lift the tongue and epiglottis away from the back of the throat relieving some of the limitation caused by the relaxation of the muscles during sleep. In order to wear such an appliance, it is crucial that the patient have adequate numbers of healthy teeth in both upper and lower arches for the appliance to attach to. If the patient lacks healthy teeth, dental implants may still make it possible to wear a detachable snore guard.

Note that detachable snore guards separate the upper and lower teeth and therefore perform the functions of a bruxing guard in addition to those of the snore guard. Consequently, a snore guard may not only treat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, but it may well treat the symptoms of TMJ disorder as well. However, in very severe cases of organic joint dysfunction due to TMJ, the forward repositioning of the lower jaw may aggravate the damage to the jaw joint and thus a snore guard may not be appropriate for those sufferers.

To create a detachable snore guard, an impression will be taken of both the top and bottom teeth, and models are poured in plaster. Then the patient may be instructed to bite into a slab of wax with his lower jaw protruded as much as possible without actually straining. This is called a protrusive bite registration. Both the models and the protrusive bite registration are then sent to the lab. The laboratory returns the finished appliance, which can take a number of different forms depending on what your dentist orders.

Different Types of Snore Guards

There do exist different types and brands of snore guards, and many orthodontic laboratories have their own brand of appliance that they use. You, together with your dentist, must decide on the correct type of snore guard for you, based on specific needs. Some snore guards are very effective at relieving the obstructions causing OSA, but they are limited by the ability of the TMJ to move forward. As a general rule, the maximum advancement of the lower jaw that can comfortably be achieved with a fixed-jaw-relation snore guard is in the range of 3 to 5 millimeters. This is normally enough to relieve the airway, and will work quite well for most people. The drawback to a fixed relation guard is that the appliance cannot be adjusted to bring the lower jaw further forward as the joints (TMJ) relax over time. Adjustability is very desirable since obstructive apnea is a progressive disease and further jaw protrusion often becomes possible as the joint ligaments stretch further.

Oral appliances (OA) that treat snoring, UARS, and OSA are devices worn in the mouth similar to sports mouth guards or orthodontic retainers. They are made of plastic and fit partially or completely within the mouth. Currently there are over 40 different types of oral appliances available. OA's may be used alone or in combination with other means of treating sleep apnea, such as weight management, surgery and CPAP. There is no one particular appliance that will work for every patient. Any dentist supplying oral appliances will be familiar with several different types.

Categories of Appliances:
There are currently two categories of appliances in general use.

1. MRD - Mandibular Repositioning Device

• A more commonly prescribed appliance.
• It repositions and stabilizes the lower jaw, tongue, soft palate, and uvula.
• It also helps to increase the muscle tone of the tongue.

2. TRD - Tongue Retaining Device

• This device advances the tongue and actively holds the tongue forward to open the airway, thus preventing it from falling backward and blocking the airway.
• These devices are most useful in patients with large tongues, poor dental health, no teeth, and chronic joint pain.

Indications for Use of an OA:

• Primary snoring
• Mild OSA
• Moderate / Severe OSA sufferers who are intolerant or refuse the CPAP unit ( as set forth by the American Sleep Disorders Association)
• Poor tolerance of nasal CPAP
• Poor surgical risks
• Non-successful UPPP surgery
• Use of appliance during travel

Advantages of using an Oral Appliance:

• Oral appliances are much small and convenient making them easy to carry when traveling
• Treatment with oral appliances is reversible and non-invasive
• After becoming acclimated to wearing the appliance, most people find them easy to wear and more comfortable than the CPAP unit.
• Quiet
• Easily adjustable
• More comfortable than the CPAP unit, generally resulting in increased compliance

Are There any Side Effects From Using Oral Appliance Therapy?
Patients using oral appliance therapy may experience the following side effects:

• Excessive salivation or dryness.
• Morning soreness in the teeth or jaw muscles.
• Tooth movements (generally minor)

Most of these side effects improve within just a few weeks of regular use and some adjustments of the appliance. Patients with arthritis and chronic jaw joint dysfunction may experience more difficulty tolerating an OAT.

Top 3 Dentists is a resource for anyone looking for the optimum in dental practice. Being at the top doesn’t mean being the most expensive, but it does mean being the most qualified.

Search for the Top 3 Dentists in your area who practice in that specialty. Please note that some of our Periodontists (or other specialists) may require a direct referral from a General Dentist. In such cases, you would simply choose one of the general Top 3 Dentists to perform a comprehensive examination on you — and then ask for a referral to the specialist of your choice.

Check out this website for referrals of highly qualified dentists: http://www.top3dentists.com/pages/sleep_apnea

How To Choose The Right Dentist

When it comes to getting the right dental care, there’s nothing as important as choosing the right dentist. The whole process is not as simple as you might think either. Most of the experts in the field suggest that getting the right dentist is a very personal undertaking that demands you first ask yourself what you will expect from this oral health professional.

So we started to ask many of the highly trained dentists, how would they choose a dentist for themselves? The following are the criteria that these dentists considered.

1. Continuing Education: Unlike what we thought, none of these dentists looked at the dental school training. They only looked at the training the dentist have received after graduating from dental school. Most dentists take about 25 hours of continuing education, and the highly qualified and trained dentists usually take upward of 100-200 hours of continuing education.

2. The type of continuing education course: So now comes the question of are all continuing educations the same? The answer was no. Many dentists take courses that do not mean much. The courses and institutions that were highly respected by our panel of dentists were courses at LVI or The Las Vegas Institute, The Pankey Institute, Dawson Center, The Hornbrook Group, The Rosenthal Institute, Nash Institute, Kois Center, OBI or Orognathic Bioesthetic International, Misch Implant Institute, Medical College of Georgia, UCLA Aesthetic Contiuum, MAP Institue, Center for Advanced Dental Education, Brock Rondeau Seminars to name a few.

3. The accolades: These are Fellowships, Diplomate, Mastership awards or board certifications that these dentists have received from different organizations. For many of these the dentists would have to go through vigorous written, oral and practical examinations in order to receive such awards. Depending on which organization they have received these, this would give an indication to the other dentists as to the training and the level of expertise these dentists would have in different fields of dentistry.

4. Years in practice: But most importantly the years they have had these special training for. For example, someone might be practicing dentistry for 20 years, but was doing the same wrong thing. Another one might be practicing for 20 years but have only started to learn these advanced principles for one year, and another dentists has been practicing for 10 years, but have been going through these vigorous and advanced training for 5 years. They all picked the latter of the three choices.

5. Before and After photos: This gives an indication of the work they can perform, make sure these are the dentist’s own work. Some dentists believe it or not, they buy before and after photos and they actually show case these as their own work on their website and in their office. Make sure they have performed cases that are similar to yours and look at the results.

6. Patient testimonials: Ask for 3-5 references. Patients who have had similar procedures done. Talk to them to see what their experience was.

7. After that you can start selecting the names of the dentists that you think you’d like to see.

A great source for finding the highly trained dentists is www.top3dentists.com. The dentists on this site have been invited to join. So unlike any other dental referral source that any one dentist can join, the dentists listed at www.top3dentists.com have been carefully evaluated to make sure they have the highest level of training the each special area of expertise. So now your job is much easier, all you need to do is to choose the one that you think you can get along with the best. Remember, you want to have a long term relationship with your dentist, so you must become a part of their family. Do they like you and do you like them so much that you would be happy to go to visit your dentist?

To find a right dentist, visit www.top3dentists.com.

Tooth Erosion and You

There are several things that you’ll need to watch for when it comes to tooth erosion. No matter how good your dental care plan is and how diligently you look after you teeth, tooth erosion can work away at your teeth regardless of what you do to try and stop it.

Tooth erosion usually shows itself as a sensitivity. Either very hot or cold food or drinks can make you a little edgy, but lesser forms of this problem run all the way to a simple discoloration. While tooth erosion can be a serious problem, there are things that can be done about it and most of these preventative measures are quite simple. First off the experts suggest that you learn to rinse your mouth with water after you eat to neutralize the acid that’s present in many foods.

As well, it’s a good idea if you wait for at least one hour after eating or drinking acidic foods as part of your dental care routine. This allows your teeth to remineralize. It’s important to remember that exposure to these acidic foods can harm your teeth and lead to tooth erosion.

How to prevent halitosis

What is halitosis?
Halitosis is a technical term for something all of us abhor – bad breath. Socially unacceptable, bad breath causes tremendous humiliation. Let us look at the causes of bad breath:

• Poor oral hygiene
• Smelly food
• Use of tobacco
• Smoking
• Certain medication

How can you prevent bad breath?
Preventing bad breath is not a difficult task. You need to follow a few simple tips.

• Follow a proper oral care routine. Keeping your mouth clean is the best way to avoid bad breath. Brush, floss, and clean your tongue regularly.
• Drink plenty of water. Keeping your mouth hydrated helps keep bacteria off your mouth. Drinking water also helps rinse your mouth.
• Watch what you eat. Avoid smelly food like garlic. If you cannot do without it, make sure you clean your mouth thoroughly after consuming it.
• Ask your doctor to provide alternate medicines. If the source of bad breath is your medicine, ask your doctor to give you alternatives. If you cannot take different medicine, ask your dentist for advice on preventing bad breath.
• Cut down on smoking and drinking caffeinated beverages. Smoking and drinking too much coffee and tea aggravate bad breath. Try to cut down on these.

Get the best dentist in your area to help you with understanding the reasons for your bad breath.

I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.
-Author Unknown

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Root Canal Treatment (2)

How painful is the root canal treatment?
Unfortunately, a lot of people refuse to go for the root canal treatment thinking that it is painful. The root canal treatment is definitely a major dental procedure but it is not painful as it is made out to be. A local anesthesia is applied and the patient does not feel much pain apart from a little discomfort in some cases.

Does the affected tooth need extra care after the root canal treatment?
For a few days, you may have to handle the treated tooth with care. Once the tooth is completely fixed with crowns and other aids, treat this tooth the same way as you would take care of the others. Follow a good dental care routine. Top it up with balanced meals and plenty of water. Also, make sure you visit your endodontist regularly.

Does the tooth become dead after the root canal treatment?
The tooth becomes dead technically as it does not have the natural dental pulp underneath it. However, after the treatment, the tooth is fixed properly in your mouth and it can function the same way as your other teeth. The tooth is functionally dead only when it is out of your mouth.

Doesn’t the tooth discolor after the root canal treatment?
Sometimes, the affected tooth discolors. However, your endodontist will be able to restore your tooth’s color with the variety of cleaning and whitening options available.

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.
- George Elio

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Root Canal Treatment (1)

What symptoms would indicate that I need a root canal treatment?
The root canal treatment, also known as endodontic treatment, is typically preceded by the following symptoms:

• Long lasting toothache
• Swelling in the gums and around a tooth
• Discolored tooth
• Pain on chewing
• Tenderness in the tooth
• Extreme sensitivity to heat and cold

These symptoms do not necessarily indicate a problem with your root canal. Conversely, having no symptom does not mean you do not have a root canal problem.

What does a root canal problem mean?
A root canal problem means that your dental pulp has been injured or infected. This necessitates the removal of the pulp so that you can have normal tooth growth.

Why is it important to go for a root canal treatment?
Avoiding a root canal treatment will cause the infection in your dental pulp to spread. This may eventually lead to the loss of your tooth. The treatment ensures that the infection is removed and your tooth survives.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
- Mark Twain

Who is an endodontist?

An endodontist is a specialized dentist who is an expert in treatment of the root canal. Endodontics is that part of dentistry that deals with the root and pulp of the teeth. The term ‘endo’ means ‘inside’ and ‘odons’ refers to ‘teeth’ in Greek. Thus, all problems, ailments, and treatment related to the root and pulp of the teeth fall into this field of dentistry.

The term endodontics is now synonymous with root canal therapy. The root canal treatment is a universally dreaded phenomemon. However, an endodontist makes its easy. If you ask your endodontist, he/she will tell you that the fear is misplaced. An endodontist devotes years on understanding the root canal after regular dental school. His/her word ought to be trusted.

Apart from root canal treatment, the following fall in the purview of endodontics:

• Dental surgery
• Dental accidents
• Infections in the tooth pulp

If you would like to find out the endodontist in your area, let Top3Dentist help you.

A smile is like looking in a mirror. If you give a smile you’re likely to get one back! – Author Unknown

Dental care in children

Adults often neglect the advice handed down by their guardians or even doctors. Expecting children to follow rules and advice is expecting too much. To some extent, it is unfair too. Instead of dictating terms to them, lead by example. Children watch your actions closely and follow what you do. If you are ignoring dental care, they will too.

Apart from setting an example for kids, here are some tips to take care of their dental health:

• Make brushing a fun activity by playing her favorite music when your child brushes. If possible, brush your teeth at the same time as your child. She will follow you and also enjoy being just like you.
• Make sure your child does not swallow the toothpaste. Explain to her that it is not a food and that it is supposed to be spit out.
• Do not just ask your child to bite into fruits etc. Eat along with her. Make eating fruits interesting by cutting them into funny shapes.
• Take your child to the pedodontist for regular check-ups. Also, do not ignore any of her complains about toothache, discomfort etc.

Get out of bed forcing a smile. You may not smile because you are cheerful;
but if you will force yourself to smile you’ll be cheerful because you smile.
- Kenneth Goode