Digital X-rays: allows the patient to view x-rays immediately and to have less radiation! A digital x-ray uses 6 times less radiation!
New Development: I had the opportunity to assist one of the top researchers for Dentsply (the largest U.S. manufacturer of Dental Products) who showed me how to use a harder and stronger night guard - denture material which at present is undergoing a 2 year Dentsply trial period. It is only available to labs that buy their $15,000 ovens. I was given the material and shown how to use it without the oven and so am able to make $500 nightguards for under $250. This urethane material does not stain nor does it scratch easily and it feels comfortable to the mouth. It does not hold odors like other plastics and it will last much longer than any other nightguard. I had a truck driver come in who needed some immediate need for replacement teeth (he had broken off two teeth just by chewing because he did not have back teeth for support). I took the urethane plastic and made him an immediate partial which fit like a glove and is as strong as the expensive lab processed dentures! (click above to go to picture of denture)
TOOTH DECAY: what causes it? Contrary to popular thought sugar does not cause tooth decay. What causes tooth decay is bacteria and the acid they produce. The bacteria does not eat the tooth. It is the waste product (the acid) that they produce that dissolves the enamel and causes the decay. In essence the bacteria eat the sugar and then they "go to the bathroom" in your mouth. That is what also helps to create the bad breath. Thus anything that helps produce bacteria is harmful not only to the teeth but also to the bone and the gums. These factors include 1) intake of sugar (sucrose..which is found in fruit) and carbohydrates (specifically starch) 2) a dry mouth which prevents the bacteria killing saliva from protecting the tissues 3) smoking which kills the good bacteria eating cells in saliva 4) acids which help promote bacteria growth and etching of the teeth 5) food traps including rotated teeth, holes in teeth, old fillings, poorly made crowns, unfilled decayed areas, spaces, periodontal disease, swollen gums, pockets in the bone, spaces between teeth etc. 6) a poor diet which decreases your bodies resistance to disease and ability to create new cells and fight bacteria 7) other bad habits such as placing objects etc. in the mouth and 8) not brushing and flossing your teeth and not seeing a dentist 2 X per year in order to remove hard plague on teeth called "calculus".
BEWARE! The more you brush your teeth the more yellow they will become...
How is that? Yes, as you over brush you will remove more and more of your whiter enamel thus exposing the more yellow dentin underneath. So do not use a hard toothbrush and do not go back and forth more than once. Do not use a timer when you brush nor teach your kids to do that....it only creates an obsessive compulsive behavior that leads to serious recession. Be careful in using any sonic brushes...they can cause serious damage to enamel, dentin, and to gum tissue!
In Texas: and maybe elsewhere, dentistry is changing...unfortunately often for the worse. When I tested in for dental school 27 years ago I had to prove my hand-to- eye dexterity and my spacial- relation abilities. We had to look at a drawing and then using our best understanding of the 3 dimensional presentation, we had to carve it out on a piece of regular chalk. If the piece was dropped and broke the whole test was scrapped and you had to retake it. It was a very good test to see how you could use your hands under pressure in a challenging scientific and artistic manner. This test is no longer necessary and so many dentists are graduating who cannot visualize parallelism which is necessary for properly constructing crowns, veneers, bridges, and partials!
In today's dentistry too much emphasis is being placed on selling and marketing dentistry. It is unfortunate, for in my own practice I have seen many friends and friends of friends who have been told that they need hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars worth of dentistry when in essence they need very little or in some cases none! For instance there is a "Scientology" dentist down the road who has been telling almost every patient who walks in that they need scaling and root planning ( for which they chare $900 ) when in essence most only need a regular cleaning (which is $54 and is usually paid 100% by insurance). There is another practice not too far away where patients are being scared into removing all their metal fillings (they are being told that they will develop Alzheimer's if they do not). Another dentist is doing crowns in a pyramid shape which means all his crowns will fall off and you will have to constantly recement them.
Smoking is one of the main causes of periodontal disease. The nicotine and the heat from smoking causes dry mouth syndrome and helps to kill good bacteria fighting cells normally found in saliva. Smoking and many new drugs that cause dry mouth or decreased salivation cause teeth to dry out like coral out of the ocean, making teeth more brittle and prone to decay. Recent studies also show a correlation between periodontal disease and heart disease!!!!!!!!
HOME, More Tooth Talk, ,Orphans in Braila, COMFORT ZONE,