Important Facts About Baby Teeth

The tooth buds actually start forming as early as six weeks in utero. When an expectant mother eats a well-rounded diet and takes prenatal vitamins during pregnancy to help her baby’s body grow healthy and strong, she is doing the same for her baby’s future smile. 

After a baby is born his tooth buds are busy developing into teeth, which gradually emerge through the jaw and eventually to the gum’s surface.

Having teeth changes your little one’s interaction with the environment.  Suddenly, you’ve possibly got a biter on your hands- and soon after that, a chewer.

So when will the first tooth make its debut? The event could happen about 6 months, however, it varies from child to child. It’s not something to be concerned about if your child is several months older and hasn’t gotten their first tooth. How many people do you know who never got any teeth?

As that initial baby tooth gets close to coming in, the gum above it might become swollen and start to tighten and get whitish. Perhaps a day or even weeks later, the first tooth will appear. Its roots will keep growing for another entire year, and 19 more teeth will complete the same process at their own pace until your child has a mouthful of them.

You’ll probably first see a front bottom tooth (central incisor). The symmetry of primary teeth is what’s most important – they should come in in pairs, one after the other. Just keep a lookout for its mate on the opposite side of the mouth. It should show up within a few months.

The four front top and bottom teeth are generally followed by the first molars at about 12 months, leaving gaps in the middle of the gum lines. These will eventually be filled by the pointy canine teeth.  Finally, you’ll see the second molars (called the 2-year molars) in the back. Usually all the baby teeth are in by 3 years of age.

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How Are Lasers Used To Treat Gum Disease?

If you have gum disease you are not alone. It is estimated that over 80 percent of the adult population has gum disease to one degree or another.  Gum disease (periodontal disease) leads to destruction of the fibers that connect teeth to bone and can create a space that is called a periodontal pocket. You can keep 3mm or less pockets clean by yourself with routine brushing and flossing, but if you have pockets deeper than 3mm, it is impossible for you to clean and maintain them. As a result you have debris and bacteria living at the bottom of these pockets which leads to chronic gum infection. You may have noticed a bad taste or odor in your mouth at times from the gum disease.

Dr Vincent Tavormina may recommend a conservative non surgical treatment. First scaling and root planing removes the mechanical irritants to your gums and supporting bone and also removes a major part of the periodontal bacteria. After removing the tartar a laser is used to selectively remove diseased or infected tissues lining the pockets around the teeth. At the same time the laser will kill the bacteria that cause your gum disease and promote healing of your gums around your teeth. The FDA has approved the use of lasers for many dental procedures including the one just described.

Lasers are used because of the precise control they afford and the comfort they provide to the patient.  Lasers perform many functions at once. Not only can a laser remove tissue, but it can also be used to seal blood vessels and nerve endings, reducing bleeding and postoperative pain and swelling. One of the biggest advantages of laser therapy is the fact that many times procedures can be performed with much less discomfort and postoperative pain than with conventional methods.

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How Does ViziLite Plus Work?

The ViziLite Plus exam is a painless exam that we can perform in just a few minutes. ViziLite Plus uses a light source that helps to improve Dr. Vincent Tavormina’s ability to identify abnormalities that may have been missed under normal lighting. 

First Dr. Vincent examines your mouth and looks for any abnormalities.  Next, you will rinse with a solution that will help Dr. Vincent Tavormina conduct the ViziLite Plus exam. The solution dries the oral tissues and prepares the tissues for examination with the ViziLite light. You only have to rinse with the solution for 30 seconds. Then the ViziLite is used. If a suspicious lesion is detected, it will be marked with T-Blue, a blue dye, and documented. Then the doctor tries to wipe the dye away. If the dye can be removed, then there’s nothing wrong.

Most of the time everything looks completely normal. However, there may be times when something that looks abnormal is identified. At that point, Dr. Vincent will use his expertise and may ask you to come back in a few weeks to follow up, or may refer you to an oral surgeon for a biopsy.

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Is Oral Cancer Screening Important?

One American dies every hour from oral cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates a 5.5% increase in new cases of oral cancer and a 1.5% increase in deaths associated with oral cancer. 

If you think you aren’t at risk for oral cancer, think again. Research has shown that 25% of oral cancers occur in people who don’t smoke and have no other lifestyle risk factors. Virtually everyone is at risk for oral cancer, that’s why we recommend a simple, potentially life-saving screening exam annually, called Vizilite Plus.

If you’re sexually active, here’s another reason to think about oral cancer. The human papilloma virus (HPV) is an extremely common sexually transmitted infection and especially prevalent in young adults.  Few people even know they have it. HPV has long been known to cause cervical cancer and now studies suggest it also plays a role in more than 20% of oral cancer cases.

ViziLite Plus is a simple technology that assists us in the early detection of oral abnormalities including premalignant lesions and oral cancer. Quite simply, early detection can save lives. When oral cancer is found early, treatment is 90% successful. The ViziLite Plus exam improves our ability to identify, evaluate, and monitor abnormal areas that are difficult to see under conventional lighting.

Oral cancer is one of the most curable diseases when it’s caught early. That’s why we perform an anual Vizilite Plus exam in combination with a conventional visual examination.

Cancer screening technologies have been saving lives for years. Early detection tools such as mammograms, Pap smear, and PSA tests have greatly reduced death rates for breast, cervical, and prostate cancers. Now dentistry has a screening technology to use in addition to visual/manual screening methods.

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Non-Surgical Treatment Of Gum Disease

Gum disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects nearly 75-90 percent of the general population at one time or another. These chronic infections have been linked to increased risk of heart attack, stroke, ulcers, diabetes, respiratory diseases and pregnancy complications.

It does not have to be this way! Gum disease is easily prevented and gum treatment can be non-surgical, using a simple, antibacterial program pioneered in the 1970s by Dr. Paul Keyes (Keyes Technique).

Our approach often uses the phase contrast microscope to test for bone destroying infectious bacteria beneath the gums. With this microscope we can take a sample from under the gums and look at a slide that shows the live bacteria. The microscope is connected to a monitor so that the patient can see the live bacteria on the TV monitor with us. The microscopic information combined with the information we gather during the exam, enables us to determine how severe the infection is and work with the patient to get things under control.

Periodontal disease is an infection of the tissues and bone that surround and support the teeth. There are two basic stages of gum disease- gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is an inflammation of the gums caused by a buildup of bacteria in the mouth called plaque. This causes red, swollen gums that typically bleed easily. Healthy gums don’t bleed. Periodontitis occurs when gingivitis goes untreated and progresses to an advanced  form of gum disease. The bacteria cause the gums to pull away from the teeth, creating bone loss and pockets where the bone used to be. The bacteria can proliferate in the pockets and further damage the bone that supports the teeth. Teeth may become loose, fall out or have to be extracted.

To treat the disease non-surgically deep cleanings called scaling and root planing are performed to clean and smooth the root surfaces. We then treat the infection with antibacterial solutions flowed under the gums to help eliminate the infection. In some cases localized antibiotics must be placed under the gums in deep pockets. The patient is given thorough lessons in proper tooth brushing, flossing and home irrigation to ensure that the periodontal disease process is eliminated and doesn’t return.

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Can I Do A Root Canal Therapy In One Visit?

The term endodontic is a combination of the Greek words endo, which means "inside" and odont, which means "tooth." Endodontic treatment involves treating the inside of the tooth and is also referred to as root canal therapy because it is focused on the root part of the tooth, specifically in the canal portion of the root where the nerve, blood vessels, and connective tissue of the tooth reside. 

Inside of a tooth, under the white enamel and a layer called the dentin, is soft tissue called the pulp. The pulp contains blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue.

Root canal therapy is necessary when the pulp becomes inflamed or infected. The inflammation or infection can have a variety of causes: deep decay due to bacteria, multiple dental procedures on the tooth, or a crack or chip in the tooth. In addition, trauma to a tooth may cause pulp damage even if the tooth has no visible chips or cracks. If pulp inflammation or infection is left untreated, it can cause pain, and/or lead to an abscess. Signs of pulp damage may include pain, prolonged sensitivity to heat or cold, discoloration of the tooth, and swelling and tenderness in the nearby gums. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all.

Treating the Tooth

A traditional root canal involves removing the inflamed or infected pulp, carefully cleaning and shaping the canals inside of the tooth, then filling and sealing the space inside the canal. This can take three visits or more. It is possible to do root canal therapy in one visit if there is no obvious infection present. A crown holds the tooth together and reduces the likelihood of the tooth fracturing in the future. Back teeth often need crowns since a great amount of tooth structure may be lost from decay, which makes them more susceptible to fracture. Front teeth occasionally need crowns and are restored with a crown on a case-by-case basis. 

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What Is A Diode Laser?

The diode laser is rapidly becoming the 21st century replacement for the scalpel. Laser dentistry enables practitioners to manage soft tissue procedures in a clinically effective manner producing results which are generally more predictable, reducing patient post operative pain and discomfort. The diode laser uses a very special light to do what a scalpel or a device called an electrosurge can do to cut and alter the gums or other oral soft tissue.

Laser Dentistry has rapidly emerged with a new level of quality care for patients. Features like the ability to perform more procedures in less time without sacrificing patient care and comfort are an added advantage. A wide range of dental practices and their patients benefit from laser treatment. For instance, lasers can be used around metal crowns, on patients with pacemakers and braces, on teeth with metal amalgams, and in procedures involving bone structure - all with few negative effects. Patients report that laser treatments are much gentler than those administered with an electrosurge and result in little or no recession, swelling, less necrosis (tissue degeneration), and a quicker post operative healing process. Additionally, laser surgery is substantially less invasive, therefore, generates less bleeding during the procedure. Lasers are predictable, precise and produce a reduction in the need for suturing. In most cases stitches aren’t needed at all.

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