Seven Great Things About Modern Dentistry #6

December 7, 2010 by Dr. Meredith

7. Materials

6. Gloves

5. Pain Relief

4. Prevention

3. Education

2. Replacing Teeth

1. Digital X-Rays

Is anyone else slightly disturbed that in the not-so-distant past dentists didn’t wear gloves? While the taste of latex may not exactly be appetizing, I’ll take it over the taste of someone’s SKIN!

In addition to the gross-out factor, wearing gloves provides a barrier between you and the dentist (and the dentist’s previous patient) to prevent the spread of bacteria. Pay attention and you may notice a bordering-on-compulsive hand washing tendency with your doctor as well. The gloves, handwashing, and sterilizing/disinfecting trifecta should help you rest easy that you won’t be leaving the dental office with a host of new microscopic buddies (aka germs).

ADA’s Stance on Amalgam

Dr. Meredith

You hear a lot about silver fillings containing mercury. Here is the American Dental Association’s official take on the safety of amalgam:

http://www.ada.org/2468.aspx

And here’s a more in-depth article from 2009:

http://www.ada.org/1741.aspx

Seven Great Things About Modern Dentistry #7

Dr. Meredith

7. Materials

6. Gloves

5. Pain Relief

4. Prevention

3. Education

2. Replacing Teeth

1. Digital X-Rays

When you visit your dentist for a routine filling, there are likely two restorative materials he or she may use: amalgam (silver) and composite (tooth-colored.) Both of these are good materials with advantages and disadvantages. Amalgam has been around for a long time for a reason. It has excellent compressive strength, ease of placement, and is often less expensive than composite. The main disadvantage is it’s silver color. Many current composites have comparable strengths to amalgams. They also are more aesthetically pleasing (very important when working in the front of the mouth), and they bond to your tooth structure, so the dentist can remain more conservative (less drilling) when preparing your tooth. However, it is important to maintain a dry field while placing composite, which proves tricky considering 100% of the fillings you have done will be in your mostly-wet mouth.

Beyond those standard fillings, you have the option of having an onlay or crown cemented to teeth that have larger cavities or fractures that may undermine the strength of your tooth. Gold and porcelain are available for both crowns and onlays, and crowns can also be made using porcelain fused to metal: a nice balance of strength and aesthetics. These types of restorations are fabricated by a dental laboratory and reinforce the tooth externally, providing extra strength. Did I mention that many dental labs will put your favorite sports team’s logo or paw prints on your crown for a small additional fee?

Flossing. Uggggghhhh.

November 30, 2010 by Dr. Meredith

Why is there so much hatred for flossing? I must admit, I was not an avid flosser until my first year of dental school. I guess daily lectures on the benefits of flossing, combined with scare tactic photographs of deteriorating mouths and talk of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and the other intimidating-sounding bacteria associated with periodontal disease will motivate a person to whip out the Glide.

Yes, I realize it is a (very slight) inconvenience to run that waxed string in between every single tooth. But the short amount of time you spend doing that can save you hours, not to mention hundreds, at the dental office.

So, everyone has bacteria in their mouth, right? It’s a warm, moist, environment that has delicious carbohydrate sources just placed into it at multiple intervals throughout the day- it’s perfect! The point of brushing and flossing is to knock down the homesteads that those bacteria have set up. Thorough brushing- we’re talking 2 minutes of soft strokes covering all surfaces of your teeth- is excellent at reducing that bacterial load. But if you were a nasty little microbe living in someone’s mouth, where would you live? I would probably go in one of the cave-like structures formed by two teeth coming together- where even the finest toothbrush bristle is too large to reach. THIS is where flossing comes in! It’s like a secret weapon against that sneaky in-between-the-teeth bacteria. The mechanical action of the string moving against your tooth will drastically reduce the amount of nasty bacteria.

How to floss: First of all, get a floss that you like. My favorite is Glide, while my husband prefers any of the flossers with a plastic handle. Push/pull the floss in between two teeth. Hug the sides of one tooth, then the other. Remove floss by either pulling through of by pulling it back up between the teeth from whence it came. Repeat until all teeth have been flossed. Note: slight modifications may be necessary in areas where teeth are not touching and on the very back teeth. In these instances, it will require less force to pull the floss into position.

When Will My Baby Get Teeth?

November 24, 2010 by Dr. Meredith

Nearly every day I find myself wondering when my 8 month old will FINALLY get teeth. I have been anxiously examining her gums since before she turned 6 months old. Mama is going a little bit crazy over here! Any bit of fussiness has been blamed on teething. I was even positive that I felt a tooth coming through when she was 6.5 months old (disclaimer: this was at 4:00 in the morning.)

Alas, not a single glorious, white baby tooth bud has erupted into that beautiful gummy smile.

I should know better than to fret about this. While “they” say that around 6 months is the norm for babies to get their primary (a.k.a. baby) teeth, the range of normal is pretty broad. Most babies will get their first teeth somewhere between 4 months old and 1 year of age. Those first two teeth are usually the middle teeth on the bottom, followed by the middle teeth on the top. Occasionally the side teeth on top will come second. Try not to worry about your child potentially being a vampire- it’s highly unlikely (you know who you are.)

Even more rarely, some sweet babies are born with a tooth. Called a “natal tooth,” these are only held in by gum tissue- not bone- and are often removed while still in the hospital following birth. These teeth make for pretty uncomfortable nursing sessions and may also post a risk for aspiration.

So please try to sit back and relax if your little one doesn’t have any teeth by the time he or she is 8 months old. It’s still completely within the normal range. And no teeth just means one less thing you have to work extra hard to keep clean, so try to enjoy it while it lasts!