What Are The Pros & Cons Of Removable Partial Dentures?

You can derive many benefits from replacing missing teeth with removable partials. Replacement teeth help fill out your smile by giving support to the cheeks and lips. Replacement teeth create a more youthful, vibrant appearance by holding up facial muscles and aiding in speaking, chewing, swallowing, and smiling.

An important benefit that removable partial dentures provide is that of maintaining teeth in position. When you have a full complement of teeth, each tooth serves to keep the others in position. The teeth touching each other prevents teeth from moving from side to side.  The teeth touching each other by opposing each other keeps them from extruding (basically keeps them from growing more into the mouth). 

When a tooth is extracted, the teeth on either side of the space start collapsing into the space.  When this happens the teeth tilt at an angle and this angle makes those teeth more susceptible to bone loss from gum disease.  The tooth opposite the extracted tooth site moves up or down into the space created by the missing tooth.  This can be so extreme that the tooth opposing the extraction site can touch the opposite gums, thus interfering with chewing.

A con to replacing missing teeth with removable partial dentures is that the partial denture is usually kept in place by metal hooks that go around the remaining teeth on either side of the extraction site.  These hooks act like forceps and slowly weaken the teeth holding the partial and many times lead to the slow extraction of the supporting teeth. The clasps also make the supporting teeth more susceptible to decay. Removable partials generally move in function, which means they are uncomfortable to chew with.

It’s best to rely on removable partials as a temporary solution to tooth loss if finances are insufficient to do the more stable replacement of missing teeth with dental implants.

For more information about dental implants visit our blog or our website: www.tavorminadentistry.com

Proper Flossing

Flossing daily removes plaque and food particles from between the teeth and below the gumline. A toothbrush only cleans approximately 20% of the tooth and gum surfaces. The remaining 80% of tooth and gum surfaces is between the teeth. That’s why flossing daily is so important to protect you from tooth decay and gum disease. Once a day flossing at night before you go to sleep is the best time to floss.

It’s best to use unwaxed dental floss so that when the floss is pressed against the tooth surface the fibers of the floss spread out. This fanning out of the floss produces a greater surface area of floss to do the job of removing the plaque. Sometimes when people have teeth that are very close to each other, it is difficult to get the floss between the teeth. If this sounds like you, you will need to use waxed dental floss. The wax helps the floss slide between the teeth.

Wrap an 18-inch strand of floss around your middle fingers and hold a one-inch section tightly. After you wrap the floss around your middle fingers, take your thumb and pointer finger and hold them as if you were pointing two guns away from you. Then take the fingers that are pretending to be the guns and put them down on the floss so that one inch is between your thumbs and pointer fingers. Holding the floss this way lets you be able to control the floss and be able to reach all the way to floss your back teeth.

Ease the floss between two teeth. Clean up and down several times while curving the floss around the teeth and going under the gumline. Don’t scrub. Just wrap the floss around the tooth and go up and down. Unwind the floss to put clean floss between your fingers that are holding the floss. A special tool called a floss threader is needed to floss between the teeth of a fixed bridge and under the fake teeth.

You may experience sore or bleeding gums for the first several days you floss, but the bleeding will stop because you are flossing. Remember that healthy gums don’t bleed.

For information about other dental topics visit DrTav.com

Plaque And Tartar Control

Patients often confuse plaque and tartar and how they relate to each other. Plaque is a sticky, colorless deposit of bacteria that is constantly forming on teeth. Saliva, food and fluids combine to produce these deposits that collect on teeth and where teeth and gums meet.

Plaque buildup is the primary factor in gum (periodontal) disease.  Fighting plaque is a life-long component of oral care. Plaque begins forming on teeth 4 to 12 hours after brushing, which is why it is so important to brush at least twice a day and floss daily.

Plaque which is not removed by regular brushing and flossing can harden into tartar (also called calculus).  This crusty deposit creates a cohesive bond that can only be removed by a dentist or hygienist. Tartar formation may also make it more difficult for you to remove new plaque and bacteria. 

You can help reduce the formation of calculus by brushing with the correct technique so that the toothbrush bristles go beneath the gums and by flossing on a daily basis. Having the appropriate interval between professional cleanings is also important. Not everyone forms calculus at the same rate, so some people need more professional help than others.

If there is any sign of gum disease, the research has shown that the ideal interval between professional cleanings is 3 months. Plaque is a collection of different bacteria and as it matures it colonizes and reaches the stage of being destructive to gums and dental bone at 3 months. When you have a professional cleaning at 3 month intervals you are disrupting the bacterial colonies and are basically making them start all over again, thereby stopping or at least slowing down the harm plaque bacteria can cause.

For information about other dental topics visit our website: http://www.tavorminadentistry.com

Keeping Your Baby's Teeth Healthy

baby teeth

Brushing is the most important thing for your baby's dental care, but those precious teeth need more than just regular cleanings to stay healthy. Below are a number of ways to keep your child's teeth in top shape for life.

Minerals and vitamins: Your baby needs the right building blocks to construct her pearly whites, and that means an adequate intake of calcium, phosphorus, fluoride, and other minerals and vitamins (particularly Vitamin C, which is a great to keep gums healthy).

Give cheese: Can't brush baby's teeth after she's had a high-carb or sugary snack? Slip her a slice of cheese. In addition to their high calcium content, cheeses, like Swiss and cheddar, encourage saliva production, which helps clear cavity-causing acids and sugars from the mouth.

Sugar: It may seem impossible to completely avoid sugars in your baby's diet, but you'll want to limit them as much as possible — particularly refined sugars (which are found in, of all things, commercial teething biscuits) and sticky natural sugars (such as those in dried fruits). Keep sweets to an asbolute minimum — no more than once or twice a day — and serve only with meals.

Use cups: Your baby may still love her bottle, but you'll want to get her used to drinking from a cup. Bottles and sippy cups containing milk or juice have been associated with tooth decay because they allow the liquid to pool in baby's mouth and on the teeth. If you’re afraid your baby will make too much of a mess drinking from a cup, use a sippy with a straw or just put water or very diluted juice in the sippy.

Reduce the juice: To cut back on sugar, only offer juice in a watered-down form and only with snacks and meals, not as an all-purpose tummy filler.

No nighttime bottles: Although your baby may love the comfort her bottle provides, don't let her go to sleep with one. She may (and probably will) leave the nipple in her mouth, and the drips and drops of fluid that dribble out can be broken down into acid, which erode those newly erupted teeth. Even if your child is still without any baby teeth, ban the bottle for sleeping, because it will only be that much harder to take away later.

For information about other dental topics visit DrTav.com