Patient Education

All periodontal disease begins with plaque formation.  In other words, without plaque formation you wouldn’t get gum disease. Plaque is initiated when millions of disease-causing germs attach themselves to the tooth by releasing a gluelike substance. These germs can attach to what appears to the naked eye as a perfectly smooth tooth surface but, to the plaque, is actually not smooth at all. They especially love areas of the tooth that don’t get cleaned properly,

Wisdom teeth are the number two cause of dental emergencies. Most wisdom teeth end up being extracted. The reason for this is they rarely come in properly. And there are two main reasons for that. One: because we no longer eat the type of diet our ancestors ate, over time our jaws have become smaller, but we still have the same number of teeth trying to fit into a smaller space.  Genetics is the other

The orthodontist is trained in the highly specialized branch of dentistry called orthodontics. Orthodontics deals with straightening out teeth that are not in proper alignment( are rotated, tilted, etc.), correcting bite problems, and aligning jaws. For the most part, this treatment is done to restore your mouth to normal health and function, but it can also be done for purely cosmetic reasons. Having properly aligned teeth that close together in the right way is very

It’s easy for the layperson to confuse a stain with decay, but most stains have an external cause and are generally harmless, though they can be an eyesore. You can also mistake a stain for the discoloration caused by an amalgam filling, which can darken the surrounding tooth structure. Normally, routine hygiene therapy will remove self-imposed stains, but if any stain remains after the cleaning have the dentist check it out. Stains come in all

When you feel confident that you’ve found a dentist who is right for you, it’s time to deal with the practical side of dental repair. To make sure you get the best treatment plan possible, tell the dentist, during your initial visit, that you want the same treatment plan he would use if he were treating his own mouth instead of yours. After the examination, X rays, and hygiene therapy, you’ll have a consultation with

Very few parents have been able to keep their kids away from sugar. It seems to be found in everything, kids literally become addicted to it, and parents feel they are fighting a hopeless battle. But there are strategies you can use that work. The three best ways to counter their sugar addictions, if you can’t withdraw them from it, care:

A number of very good filling materials are available these days. New materials and improvements on the old ones are being introduced all the time. In just about every case, there’ll be the right filling material for that particular job. Price is usually the only obstacle to getting the best filling possible. But if  you can’t afford the very best, there will always be a less expensive choice that will do the job until you

Gingivitis is the most common form of periodontal disease. In simple terms, it is an inflammation of the gum tissue.  Uncared for, the inflammation turns into more serious forms of infection and eventually evolves into periodontitis. The most common way to classify gingvitis is by cause and severity.  Generally, it’s enough to know that it has three phases, and if, for example, you are in the third phase you have the most serious form. Your

If you’ve lost a filling, you will still be able to eat many foods, talk, and do just about everything else you could do before you lost it. That’s the good news. The bad news is that if you don’t have it replaced you will lose much, or all, of that tooth’s chewing function, along with the function of the tooth above or below it.  Thus, you will have lost the use of two teeth. 

Facial contours, the size of the jaw, and tooth size are all hereditary ( or, in rare cases, disease-related).  An orthodontist may talk to you about the relationship between jaw and tooth size.  For example, if a child inherits her mom’s small jaw and her father’s large teeth, the end result may be teeth that are too big for the jaw. This overcrowding is a serious problem. It can prevent some teeth from erupting and

Charting pockets is the dental term for the procedure used to measure the depth of the gingival sulcus, or gum pocket. It’s a standard procedure that is accepted and used by all dentists and hyginenists. Although additional methods are also used to evaluate the condition of your gums, charting the pockets is a great way for you to get a clear picture of the extent of your periodotal disease. To measure the pocket depth, your

When the hygienist gets down to the business of hygiene therapy, the procedure will consist of most of the following steps: — Plaque and calculus (tartar) removal— Removal of infected gum tissue— Teeth desensitization before cleaning— Cleaning and polishing— Monitoring your recall program— Expanded periodontal therapy. Most advanced periodontal disease will require some treatment by the dentist or the periodontist, but hygienists are qualified to handle the disease until it reaches a certain severity. She/he

Although the ingredients, and their proportions, of many toothpastes are closely guarded secrets, most toothpastes ( including therapeutic pastes) contain all or some of the following substances:Abrading, polishing, and bleaching agents. Abrading and polishing agents comprise as much as 50% of most dentifrices. The abrasive ingredient actually grinds off enamel and dentin, much like rough sandpaper abrades wood. The polishing agents are included to help smooth off the roughened areas, like using a fine sandpaper.

Over 90% of the population have some form of dental disease, ranging from a little decay to severe bone loss.  Less than 10% of those over sixty-five still have all their natural teeth. Some sources say that as many as 40 million will not see a dentist at all because of their overpowering fear of the dental office. Regardless of what you have been led to believe, there is absolutely no reason for you to

All toothpastes fall into one of two categories. They are either therapeutic or cosmetic. Therapeutic toothpastes contain ingredients that have been shown to prevent of significantly reduce tooth decay and gingivities. The makers of cosmetic dentifrices ( dentifrice refers all kinds of tooth cleansers, from pastes to gels to powders) promote these products for their ability to make your teeth whiter and brighter. These products either bleach the tooth itself or remove stains through abrasion

Electric toothbrushes have been a valuable addition to toothbrush technology. There are a number of these on the market, and although they come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. They all have one thing in common: they rotate the bristles faster than any human hand can. Whether they they rotate four thousand times a minute or a thousand, go clockwise or counterclockwise, you still have to control them. This means you have to use them

Once plaque begins to form in the pocket, it is protected against most forms of oral hygiene. As plaque moves into the once healthy gum pocket, the infection begins to involve the place where the ligament attaches the gum to the tooth surface.  Infection here is bad enough by itself, but the whole process is made even worse by the formation of subgingival calculus.  As the calculus grows and spreads, it pushes against the swollen