Free I-Pod with Brain Surgery

Would you get your brain surgery from a surgeon who advertised that

you would get a free I-Pod if you got your surgery from him?

Would you get a knee replacement from a guy who offered a free

DVD player with every knee replacement?

Of course not!

These things are too important to trust to someone who may be doing

a terrible job on people and is simply trying lure people in with free stuff.

Please use this same logic when you choose your dentist.

Your teeth mean more to you then you will ever know.

Good looking teeth will help in your self confidence, relationships, getting a job,

respect of co-workers, neighbors, etc.

What do you think of when you see someone with no teeth, missing teeth,

badly stained teeth, etc?

You may place labels on them that are not all that flattering.

These labels may not be true but someone that has a horrible looking

smile may be overlooked for someone, less qualified, but with a better looking smile.

Getting freebies is cool.

But get the freebies from Old Navy or some place like that.

DO NOT get your freebies from someone that will be providing medical or

dental care to you that may effect you the rest of your life.

Ask around.

Get referrals.

Ask to see before and after pictures.

Know before you go.

If you really want the free I-Pod that is great.

Just don't be shocked if the teeth you end up with don't match your expectations.

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How did I get a cavity?

Happens everyday.

I tell people they have cavities and they look at me

with this questioning and confused look and say,

"How do I have cavities? I brush my teeth."

This is probably just an eternal battle for me as a dentist.

For a person to say...

"How can I have cavities? I brush"

Is like saying...

"How did my engine overheat? I put water in the radiator."

Good job on the water.

That is a very necessary part of helping keep your engine cool.

However, so is adding oil to the engine itself.

Adding the water is nice but its not enough.

Just as brushing is nice but it is not enough, on its own, to prevent tooth decay.

Moral to the story.

Brush AND Floss

Brush AND Floss

Brush AND Floss

Brush AND Floss

Got it?

Good.

Now have a wonderful day.

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Are pacifiers bad for your kids?

Well, like most things, the answer is ............ it depends.

Sucking is a very natural and calming thing for a baby to do.

I have given each and every one of my 5 kids a pacifier.

None of them are delayed in their teeth coming in, have any speech problems, or had any thumb sucking problems due to using a pacifier.

There are some obvious things you should be concerned with.

If you use a clip and a cord to keep the pacifier attached to your child's clothes make sure the cord is short enough that can't choke the baby.

Once your child gets to kindergarten make sure that they only use the pacifier at home. Being known as the only kid that had a pacifier in kindergarten could seriously damage your child's chances at getting asked to junior prom.

Seriously though, allowing your child to have a pacifier for the first few years of life is, in my opinion, not a problem.

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Before and After

The picture quality is not as good as I would like but you get the idea.

Patient came into the office with some trouble on her two front teeth.

She had bonding done on the teeth about 22 years ago.

The bonding had since chipped and discolored.

The gums had also receded which revealed more discolored tooth up by the gumline.

We removed all of the old bonding.

The patient chose the color that best suited her and it was placed within about 45 min.

Patient was happy with result and if there is anything that she does not

like then we can change it just that fast.

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Tongue Piercing = Bad Idea

You see it all the time.

People with barbells sticking out their tongue.

You may even have one yourself.

But is it safe?

In a word...... NO!

Can you feel a stray hair on your arm? Probably not.

Can you feel a stray hair on your leg? Again, probably not.

Can you feel a hair in your mouth? Absolutely.

The reason for this is because the tongue has more nerves contained in it then almost any other part of your entire body. It is very sensitive and very precise. Therefore, ramming a large steel rod through it will certainly damage these nerves. Piercing the tongue can lead to a loss in ability to feel your tongue and ability to taste food.

Besides loss of taste and feel there are also other dangers.

Since the mouth can not be kept sterile, as other parts you may pierce,

the chance of infection is greater. The above picture is a very nicely infected tongue.

Cracking your teeth on a tongue ring is also a very real concern. I have treated many cracked teeth from people biting down on tongue rings.

Want another reason?

How about this one.

If you catch your tongue ring on something.

You can actually pull it out of your tongue and cause, this......

Look Fun????

My suggestion, DON'T DO IT!!!

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Its called pericoronitis

That's right. You may have a Pericoronits.

It simple terms it is a little flap of skin that is hanging over the top of your last tooth.

Or it may be that the tooth isn't all the way in yet and its half covered by tissue.

Whichever it is, this tissue will tend to get inflamed from time to time.

When it does get inflamed chewing can become very painful.

The problem can be helped by swishing with a mouthwash and ridding the area of debris.

But this is only a short term solution.

What is the long term solution?

# 1 You can get the tooth that is partially erupted taken out.

That works well if the tooth happens to be a wisdom tooth.

But not so well if it happens to be a normal molar.

#2 You can get the tissue trimmed off.

This works very well for normal molars but not so well if the problem is a wisdom tooth.

Whatever the problem happens to be just know that you are not alone

in having this problem and that there are several simple solutions.

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How long will it last?

"How long will it last doc?" is a question I get asked all the time.

Usually I get asked this question after I tell someone they have a cracked tooth.

The Answer I give people is, "it depends".

And although it sounds like a cop-out it is absolutely the correct answer.

If we can see a crack in a tooth that means that the tooth is giving way.

Whether it is giving way like the beach to erosion.

Or whether it is giving way like a pony with a sumo wrestler in its back

is the question.

It all really depends on your diet.

If you eat nothing but yogurt the rest of your life then the tooth will make it a long time.

If you crush ice and corn nuts with your teeth then the tooth may break by tonight.

So the dentist really doesn't have any idea.

Its all up to you.

Best thing to do is to get it taken care of right away so that you don't test the

limits of your tooth's toughness.

If it does break the consequences could be dire.

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My Kid Just Knocked Their Front Tooth Out?!

Okay. First of all, as in most traumatic situations.

Do not panic.

Its likely that your child has never gone through this before.

Therefore, they are fairly unaware whether what just happened

to them is simply a minor thing or whether they will soon be in the hospital.

The way they will be able to tell how severe the situation

is is by looking at their parent.

If you are flipping out then they will too.

The first thing to do is to educate yourself BEFORE something like this happens.

It is very important to know when your child's baby teeth will come out naturally.

Here is a chart of, about, when that will happen.

This is important because if the tooth that was just knocked out was about to

come out anyway then there is much less to worry about.

If it's still a year or so away, or you know that its already the permanent tooth

that just got knocked out then there is much more to worry about.

So lets say your child is 8 or 9 years old and it is the adult tooth that just got knocked out.

First thing is to do is obviously check your child for signs of significant injury.

If they hit their face hard enough to knock a tooth out

you need to check for signs of a concussion.

If they seem to be alright except for the tooth then the next step is to find the tooth.

Once the tooth is found treat it very gently.

The tooth is attached to the bone by ligaments.

Parts of those ligaments will still be attached to the tooth and must not be damaged.

First carefully pick off any large pieces of debris.

Secondly the smaller pieces need to be rinsed off.

This is best accomplished by gently rubbing the tooth against the inside of your child's cheek.

This will get all the small particles off and still treat the tooth gently.

Then, are you ready for this..... you need to stick the tooth back in.

That's right, you need to gently place the tooth back into the socket from which it came.

Its pretty simple.

The Skinny part goes in first.

Just simply slide it back into place.

Don't force it. Simply get it as close as you can.

If it wont go or you don't have the stomach for it then place the tooth

into your child's mouth in the bottom jaw in between the cheek and gums.

Holding the tooth there will give it the best chance for survival.

Another idea would be to place it in a glass of milk.

Saliva and milk are the best places for a knocked out tooth.

DON'T place the tooth in a glass of water.

The water will destroy any chance we would have had to

get the tooth to reattach to the body naturally.

Then finally, in all cases, get to a dentist ASAP.

The dentist will know what to do and will give you options depending on the

severity of the accident and the condition of the jaw and tooth.

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Can too much fluoride kill you?

You bet it can.

But, ANYTHING taken in too great of quantity can kill you!

Take water for instance.

Water is a necessity for life.

However, you drink too much water too quickly and

you will soon find yourself dead from water toxicity.

People take Tylenol for headaches.

Take 3 bottles of it.

You won't be with us much longer.

People take iron supplements.

Take 3 bottles of that stuff.

See how healthy you feel.

And the list can go on and on and on.

ANYTHING that is taken in the improper quantities can harm you.

Fluoride can absolutely have harmful effects.

That is why it is prescribed by a clinician who is trained

on how to prescribe the drug according to a strict set of

guidelines that take into account the area in which a person lives,

their age, their size, what other drugs they are taking, etc. etc.

"All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison.

The right dose differentiates a poison..." Paracelsus (1493- 1541)

I give my children and my patients children fluoride supplements.

I would encourage anyone who is nervous about fluoride to read

up on the subject from CREDIBLE sources and then make

whatever decision they feel comfortable with.

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It shouldn't be too hard to pull out, should it?

This happens all the time.

People, who neglect their teeth, will wait until they have a tooth that is

broken off at the gums to come to my office to get it extracted.

The laugh a little nervous laugh and say...

"well, not much left so it should be pretty easy yo pull out, huh?"

The answer to that is, NO.

Imagine getting a fence post out of the ground.

Not the easiest thing in the world, right?

Now, take a chain saw and cut the fence post off at the ground.

How easy is that going to be now?!

If you want a tooth out, please, please, please, do not wait until

it is so broken down that there is nothing to grab on to.

It is NOT easier.

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Just take em out!!

Every once in a while we will get someone who asks us to take

all of their teeth out and just give them dentures.

In almost all cases the answer to this is no.

The reason for this is because these people are looking for a fix.

A fix to all of their dental problems.

They figure that if they have no teeth then they can't have anymore mouth problems.

Oh how wrong that is.

Dentures come with their own set of problems.

Do they fit?

Will they stay in?

Can I chew with them?

Etc.

Etc.

Now, for some people a denture is absolutely the right way to go.

But for most there are other options.

And once you go with a denture you can never go back to real teeth.

Its kind of a, the grass is always greener on the other side mentality.

Do dentures work?

Yes.

But they require work, cleaning, and care just like teeth do.

If you aren't willing to work on your teeth then the problems you

had with your teeth will follow you to your dentures.

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My Child's Teeth Don't Match-up?

There are some dental terms for what you are, most likely, seeing.

The first is, crossbite.

If you look on the left hand side of this picture you will see a crossbite.

The top teeth are supposed to come out over the tops

of the bottom teeth (like the right side).

The next thing you might be seeing is an underbite.

That is where the bottom front teeth protrude further then the upper teeth.

Notice in this picture there is no crossbite. The back teeth are all in correct position.

It really depends on the age of the child as to how much you are going

to worry about either of these conditions.

If your child is over the age of about 6 and their permanent teeth are crossed or over-bit then you for sure need to see an orthodontist.

If your child is younger and still in the process of getting all of their baby teeth in then the concern may not be as pressing. In this case simply have your dentist take a look at your child's tooth positioning during their next cleaning.

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Dad's Denture Won't stay in.

What can be done for a denture that won't stay in?

First of all the age of the denture needs to be considered.

If the denture is over 10 years old, without having been re-fit,

then a dentist needs to look at it.

Secondly, was the denture made properly?

Even the newest denture won't fit if it was made improperly.

Third, what is the overall health of the person wearing the denture?

If the patient has experienced severe weight loss over a short period of time

then the denture may quickly become unwearable do to an ill fit.

Many loose fitting dentures can be solved by taking care of

one of the previously mentioned problems.

However if that doesn't fix the problem then there is another solution.

Two implants placed in the lower jaw with a couple of snaps

placed in the denture may be just the trick.

The snaps placed in the denture will grab onto the implants

(just like a snap on a shirt).

The denture will now be be much more able to stay in place.

Contact your dentist and see if this is the right option for your loved one.

Or you.

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