What To Do In A Dental Emergency

What would you consider a dental emergency?  If you have pain that interferes with your ability to function, that certainly is a dental emergency and if you’ve sustained trauma to your teeth or mouth, that is a dental emergency.  There also are “cosmetic” emergencies, and those can be just as immediate as pain or injury.  What are common dental emergencies and how can you handle them?

Of course, there’s the infamous toothache.  Sometimes a toothache could happen because food is wedged between the teeth.  So use some floss and make sure there’s nothing lodged there.  If the nerve of the tooth is infected and dying, you most likely will experience spontaneous throbbing.  Your bite could feel different and you may have pain that radiates to your ear, temple or cheek.  Sometimes you can’t even tell which tooth is the culprit.  Do not put heat on your face.  If there’s swelling you can apply a cold compress until you can get to a dentist.  Never place aspirin or any pain reliever in your mouth along the gum area of the tooth.  You can badly burn your gums and cheek.  Sleep with two pillows if you can’t see a dentist until the morning.

If you have an abscess, it is because the tooth nerve has died.  The symptoms of an abscess usually start as a constant throbbing pain.  Your tooth may also hurt when you bite down, and eating hot foods or beverages may increase your pain.  If left untreated the infection can spread to your face and cause facial swelling.  Sometimes pus collects inside your mouth by the infected tooth.  This swelling inside the mouth will hurt more and more until it bursts, or your dentist drains the pus from the area.  Call the dentist immediately so that you can be prescribed antibiotics and an X-ray can be taken to diagnose and treat the abscessed tooth appropriately.

We’ve discussed the toothache and abscesses as common dental emergencies and we’ll continue discussing dental emergencies, including “cosmetic” emergencies in our next blog.  Until then visit DrTav.com for other dental information.

How To Prevent Tooth Injuries

We all know how valuable a healthy attractive smile is.  Parents do the best they can to protect their children from harm, but accidents do happen and very often damage the front teeth, especially.  We have some suggestions to help prevent tooth injuries.

Some injuries just can’t seem to be avoided.  All of us must learn to walk, and it is at this time that many early tooth injuries are sustained.  Cushioning the sharp edges of coffee tables in family or living room areas can prevent many tooth injuries that might otherwise happen to toddlers attempting to make their first steps.  Also, never leave a baby or toddler alone in the bathtub.  Slipping on the tub is another pitfall to be aware of.

As children approach grade school, most injuries are a result of sports.  Diligent use of mouth guards, either bought at the pharmacy or fabricated by a dentist, helps prevent sports injuries to teeth.  Face cages are great protective gear for baseball catchers and hockey goalies.  Although helmets cannot prevent tooth injuries, they do protect the head, so are very important as well.

As children approach the teen years, in addition to the threat of sports injuries to teeth, is the danger of car accidents.  Seat belts prove to be the best preventive medicine to avoid tooth injuries.  If for any reason a tooth is knocked out, it is important to get to a dentist as soon as possible.  There is an old wives tale to put the avulsed tooth in water or milk, but these solutions are not the best environment if an avulsed tooth is to be successfully replanted.  In earlier posts we discussed the use of Save-A-Tooth or emt Toothsaver.  Either of these products provide the optimum ph in which to keep the avulsed tooth until the dentist can evaluate the injured area and replant the tooth.

So the best way to prevent tooth injuries is the use of protective cushions on furniture, mouth guards, and seat belts.

For information about other dental topics visit www.DrTav.com

The Tragedy Of The Boston Bombing

I was going to talk about how to prevent tooth injuries today, but in light of the tragedy in Boston, it just doesn't feel right. The injury to take note of today is the unimaginable devastion of the attack on innocent people, the loss of life, the tragic injuries sustained by so many, the impact on family and friends. We are so saddened by this horrifying act and that there is so much hate and anger in this world.  Our hearts are heavy and injured by this violent attack, but we must not succumb to fear and must stand courageous in the face of such violence. We will continue sharing about tooth issues from here on in and refuse to be terrorized into silence.

Our heartfelt sympathy and compassion is extended to the victims of the Boston bombing.  On a certain level we are all affected by this horrifying act, yet I pray that we find strength within and hold on tight to whatever higher power we may believe in, so we radiate this strength to those who are living with the devastation of this violation of humanity and brotherhood.

Dental Office Safety Practices

You have an expectation of dental care in Short Hills NJ that includes sterile or surgically clean instruments, properly working equipment, drugs and medications that are not expired, and doctor and staff who are licensed to provide services.  From time to time this expectation is not respected, and we hear about dentists in the news who have violated the publics’ trust and did not provide safe and sterile care.  At such times it is natural for there to be a heightened sense of anxiety about the cleanliness and sterilization practices of the dental office we visit.

Cleanliness and standardization of infection procedures is a top priority in our dental office and in the majority of dental offices.  Dentists and their staffs take many precautions to prevent the spread of infection from doctor to patient and from patient to doctor.  We shield our patients and ourselves from infections by using what is called universal precautions.  Therefore, we wash our hands before and after each patient is seen, we use a new pair of gloves for each patient, and we use masks and protective eyewear.  If the dentist leaves the room for any reason, a new pair of gloves is put on before resuming patient care. 

During treatment, high speed suction is used, often barriers are placed in the patient’s mouth to isolate the area treated.  Sterile instruments are kept on sterile trays during treatment.  Needles and sharp instruments such as scalpels are discarded into a special medical waste container after a single use.  Before the next patient is seated, all surfaces in the treatment area are wiped down and disinfected, instruments are routed for the sterilization process, and disposable items are discarded.  Instruments that aren’t disposable are sterilized with steam under pressure in an autoclave, or with dry heat or chemicals.

Cross infection, in general, is exceedingly rare because dentists follow strict guidelines for the safety of our patients, staff, and ourselves.  The risk of your health being affected by not seeing the dentist is far greater than the risk of cross infection.

For information about other dental topics visit www.TavorminaDentistry.com

Can New Dentistry Really Make You Look Younger?

Last week we discussed deteriorated silver fillings and how they can age you.  Today, let’s look at dental crowns.  Even if you don’t break or “pop” a porcelain crown, it won’t maintain its original appearance forever.  For example, the gums often recede with age.  This can produce a thin gray or black line between the crown and the gum.  Also, the materials and laboratory procedures for making porcelain crowns have evolved and improved over time, resulting in crowns that look more natural than crowns made in the past.  The solution is easy if there is a gray or black line between the crown and the gum.  In some locations of the mouth, it’s easy enough to use a low-cost option of using tooth-colored filling material to fill the gap.  It isn’t as durable or as attractive as a new crown, but it’s a good choice for patients with limited funds, or if the dark line is not in the front of the mouth.  The best solution is a new crown using the wonderful new porcelains available.

Have you heard of the gummy smile?  A gummy smile is when the gums are disproportionately prominent.  Changes in the shape and health of the gums can make the teeth appear longer.  Or they can make the gums disproportionately prominent.  Either of these changes can compromise your appearance and make you look older.  You can have a “gum lift,” which is a procedure called a gingivectomy or gingivoplasty.  In dentistry, we can use a laser and/or scalpel to give your gums a more even appearance that’s in harmony with your face.

Poor denture fit can age you, too.  Even if your partial or complete dentures fit perfectly when they were new, they tend to become loose or misaligned as your mouth changes.  It’s normal for the gums and underlying bone to change over time.

Poorly fitting dentures can sometimes give you jowls and wrinkled skin as your muscles work overtime to keep the dentures in place.  Also, as the dentures wear and the bone that supports them deteriorates, the lower third of the face decreases in height.  Making new dentures can sometimes have the effect of looking like you’ve had a facelift, because of the transformation that is possible by increasing the dimension of the lower third of the face.  Most people find that it is worth replacing dentures every 5 to 10 years.

We hope you enjoyed this journey to explore looking younger with dentistry.  For more information about other dental topics please visit www.TavorminaDentistry.com

Looking Younger With Dentistry

In last week’s blog we began looking at how modern dentistry can make you look 15 years younger, and as promised, we are going to continue exploring this topic.

Did you know that sometimes people with temporomandibular disorder (TMD) will sometimes experience changes in the jaw joint that cause the chin and lower jaw to move to an abnormal position.  This can distort the normal appearance of the face.

Some patients can correct a TMD problem by wearing a splint – sometimes known as a night guard or a bite guard – when they sleep.  This is called occlusal splint therapy.  Splints made from a type of durable plastic, usually slip over all or some of the teeth.  They cause changes in the joint that can reposition the lower jaw and both relieve pain and restore a more normal appearance.

Splints are relatively inexpensive, but they can take years to work, and they don’t work for every patient.  It’s important to know not to bother with over-the-counter boil-and-bite splints.  They are not effective for a receding jaw.  You need a splint that is customized by a dentist to fit your specific teeth and jaw shape.  MRI or a CT scan may be needed during the diagnosis stage.

If you’re middle-aged or older, you probably have one or more silver amalgam fillings.  These don’t last forever.  The edges can open up and allow bacteria to get under the fillings, leading to decay, or eventually the need for root canal therapy.  Also, the metal fillings in teeth can darken and appear as gray shadows that are visible through the tooth enamel, imparting an old and unattractive appearance.  Depending on the size of the silver filling, the solution can be replacing silver fillings with tooth-colored composite fillings, or lab-processed porcelain “fillings” called inlays or onlays.  Inlays and onlays are needed when too much tooth structure needs to be replaced to use composite and have it be effective.  There is a great difference in the cost of the two types of restorations to replace silver fillings.  Composites can be a few hundred dollars a tooth, and porcelain can be over one thousand dollars a tooth.

We’ll continue exploring the youth restoring qualities of dentistry in our next blog.  For now, please visit www.DrTav.com for information about other dental topics.

Can Dentistry Make You Look 15 Years Younger?

Teeth show your age just as much as drooping muscles or sagging skin.  Even if you get regular dental care and keep your teeth white, you might want to consider other dental enhancements.  Age-related changes can dim your smile and even change your facial structure, making you look far older than your age.

What are some of the conditions in your mouth that can age you?  Decades of chewing or tooth-grinding or clenching can wear down the upper and lower teeth.  As the teeth get shorter, the distance between the chin and nose also shortens, resulting in a shorter face that makes you look older. 

The solution for worn teeth is veneers or crowns that restore natural tooth shapes and dimensions.  Veneers are ultrathin pieces of porcelain that, when attached to the surfaces of existing teeth, become extremely strong.  A crown goes over the entire tooth and is a better choice if your teeth are structurally weak because of fillings, root canal, etc.  Sometimes increasing the length of only the upper teeth can create a dramatic improvement.  Crowns and veneers can last at least 10 to 15 years and often longer.

Missing teeth can also age you.  People often don’t realize that the shape of the face partly is determined by the teeth.  This is particularly true in the cheek areas because the muscles are supported by the side teeth.  If you have one or more missing teeth, your cheeks can cave inward and create an older, drawn appearance.  Even one missing tooth can cause a “sunken” appearance if you have a small, narrow face.  It will be less apparent if you have a large, broad face.

A dental implant is ideal to replace a missing tooth, as long as the underlying bone is healthy and enough to hold the implant.  The dentist places a titanium cylinder in the dental bone.  This cylinder replaces the missing tooth root.  After the implant becomes part of your jawbone, a connector called an abutment is attached to the implant and then a crown is placed on the abutment.  Dental implants typically last just as long as your natural teeth, and in many cases, even longer.

We’ll continue exploring how dentistry can make you look younger in our next blog.  In the meantime, please visit www.TavorminaDentistry.com for other dental information.