Veganism has a number of proven health benefits, but can it work wonders for your oral health? That depends on how healthy your diet — vegan or otherwise — is! Veganism certainly encourages you to make more healthful, plant-based choices for your diet, and that can mean wonderful things for...
Teeth whitening is a booming business and for good reason. It’s natural to want a gorgeous smile. Not every set of pearly whites is an ideal candidate for the treatment, however. If you’re looking for a little boost in appearance or wish to avoid harsh chemicals or intensive treatments, consider...
Imagine losing your short-term memory, unable to recall the names of those you hold dear. Or experiencing unexplained mood changes like agitation at night, or even the loss of basic bodily functions or the ability to properly care for yourself. This nightmarish scenario is, to some degree, reality for the nearly...
Wisdom teeth seem like the perfect setup for a bad joke: if they’re so wise, why do they cause so much pain and hassle? Wisdom teeth, or the third set of molars that typically develop between the ages of 17 and 21, actually served a very real purpose once upon...
Americans are developing diabetes at an alarming rate, with as many as 100 million people living with diabetes and prediabetes today. This means that it’s even more important today than it was yesterday to ensure your oral health is maintained. After all, good oral health can help control blood glucose...
When your mouth needs attention, your overall health can suffer. If you haven’t been able to take care of your oral health, you might already be feeling the effects on your general health. Even if it’s gotten bad, taking care of your dental health and seeking dental reconstruction now can...
If your teeth are in mostly great shape, you may be wondering if veneers are an option for you. Veneers are thin shells molded to the shape of your teeth and bonded to their surface to mask discoloration, slight positioning issues or minor cosmetic imperfections. While it’s not the only...
There should be no question too embarrassing to ask your prosthodontist — after all, it’s their job to ensure your mouth is restored to full glory, in both function and appearance. Yet in reality, there are some questions that, for one reason or another, are tough to ask. It’s worth...
Your hormones change throughout the course of your life, from typical hormonal shifts that occur with the onset of puberty to those associated with taking hormonal birth control and onwards toward menopause, or even those caused by an abnormal (but still fairly common) hormone imbalance. Chances are that you already...
You might cringe at the whine of a dentist’s drill or shudder at the feeling of denture cream, but today’s modern dentistry tools and techniques are nothing compared to the creepy ways people dealt with tooth problems in the past. Some form of dentistry has been practiced for at least...
Accidents happen, but if you get a tooth knocked out it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doomed to live with a gap in your smile. With quick thinking and swift action on your part, we have a good chance of implanting your tooth and having it grow back in place. Even...
You’ve got a throbbing tooth and the pain just won’t go away. Is it because you bit down too hard on a piece of hard candy, or could it be a sign of something much more serious? If you’ve got an abscessed tooth and you don’t do anything about it,...
If you’re trying to live a more consciously healthy lifestyle, you’re probably looking at all the factors in your life that affect your health and well-being. One of these factors may be the amount of radiation you expose your body to each year. While doctors agree that in an ideal...
One of the health challenges faced by older people, especially women, is that of osteoporosis. The most common symptoms of this disease are brittle bones and lower bone density. The main contributing factors in osteoporosis are menopause, aging and a lack of calcium and vitamin D in the diet. Its...
If you’ve got a chipped, broken or badly decayed tooth, your prosthodontist is likely to cover it with a crown instead of replacing the entire tooth. It’s a simpler procedure and gives great results in most cases. Dental crowns, also known as dental caps, are the size and shape of...
When it comes to replacing or repairing teeth, prosthodontists are the go-to experts in the field. As the top specialists in cosmetic dentistry, prosthodontists are well known for providing veneers, crowns and implants, for one tooth or an entire mouth. They’re not just about providing a pretty dental surface, though....
Losing a tooth isn’t only embarrassing, it can severely impact your bite and the health of the rest of your mouth if it isn’t cared for. The empty space where your tooth used to live can cause bone loss in your jaw, and the teeth surrounding that space will move...
It’s a rite of passage in most families. The kids show off their loose teeth to their parents, then hide the fallen teeth under their pillows in the hopes that the tooth fairy will take them away. Generations of American parents have pulled their children’s baby teeth and traded coins...
Unless you have a cavity or some other problem with your teeth, it’s likely that you never really thought about the different types there are and what they do. The normal adult has 32 teeth, which include four different types, each of which does a completely different job. Each task...
Dentures, or false teeth, have been around for thousands of years. The earliest type of false teeth found were created by the Etruscans in 700 B.C. They created sets of dentures made from a combination of human and animal teeth. Curiously, the practice never caught on outside of their society,...
Prosthodontist, orthodontist, what’s the difference? Aren’t they all just fancy types of dentists? Well, technically yes, just like surgeons, OB/GYNs and pediatricians are all medical doctors. These two dental specialists are often confused with each other since they sometimes work on the same type of dental problems. They both graduate...
What type of mouthwash should you be using? After brushing and flossing, using mouthwash can give your mouth a nice, clean finish. But not all rinses are made the same. Depending on their ingredients, some are more effective than others for taking care of certain oral hygiene problems. There is...
If you’ve got normal, active kids, the possibilities are pretty good that one of them may suffer from a cracked or chipped tooth at some time while growing up. Teeth can be cracked or otherwise damaged by chewing ice or hard candy, falling down and hitting the mouth on the...
While bone grafting might sound like a terrifying serious medical procedure, it’s actually a relatively minor task that we do right in our office. As scary as it sounds, bone grafting is the key to bringing back a great smile and comfortable bite for many people. When you have problems...
Getting a set of complete dentures is a process that includes multiple visits to the prosthodontist’s office. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the coming weeks. The first step is always to remove any remaining teeth or partial teeth, then allow the gums to heal. Over the...
Everyone wants a great looking smile, right? Whether you’re born with perfect teeth (and how many of us are?) or you need a little help to make a good first impression, getting and keeping an attractive smile is much easier with the help of a talented prosthodontist. In the past,...
Does the sight of strange shiny tools in your dentist’s office make you start to tense up? The whirring sound of the drill and the sharpness of a dental pick can be very frightening, and might even be behind your fear of going to the dentist. There are ways to...
Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine you experience the astringent smell of antiseptics, hear the shrill whine of a drill coming closer and closer, feel fingers covered in latex invading your mouth. Either you’re getting very uncomfortable right now, or you’re wondering when you need to schedule your next...
Everyone knows that cigarette smoking is bad for your general health, including your teeth. If you’re a smoker, you’ve probably been told to quit dozens of times. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, might seem like a smoker’s dream come true. Instead of drawing in tobacco smoke, you inhale a vapor-like substance...
If the thought of getting your teeth cleaned makes you tense up and you’d rather suffer from a toothache than visit the dentist, sedation dentistry can literally save your smile. Dental sedation can be used for any procedure, from a simple tooth cleaning to major oral surgery. Your dentist can...
When you have a permanent tooth extracted, a blood clot will form to cover and protect the exposed bone and nerve endings left open by the process. If this clot dislodges and comes out, it causes a painful condition known as a dry socket. Dry sockets are the most common...
Wisdom teeth don’t make you any smarter, but they do appear when you’re old enough to make it seem like you are. For most people, wisdom teeth are the last four molars to appear in their mouth, and they often do more harm than good. When these teeth begin to...
The image of a gap-toothed child is always charming, but switch that picture to an adult and the results are nowhere near as attractive. Whether you’re missing a series of teeth through genetics or because of gum disease or accidents, the lack of teeth is going to cause problems. Having...
More than half of Americans over the age of 30 suffer from periodontal disease. In fact, gum disease is the leading cause for tooth loss in adults. Periodontal disease patients get very familiar with procedures like scaling and root planing, a type of deep cleaning that’s a lot less fun...
Crowns aren’t just for royalty, they’re also a great way to repair your smile! Although sometimes people choose to have crowns placed for purely cosmetic reasons, the vast majority of patients come in to the dentist only to discover that they need a crown to fix a significant dental problem....
There are lots of reasons you may need a tooth extracted, everything from accidents to advanced tooth decay can be at the root of the problem. No matter what causes the extraction, though, the process is basically the same. So is the after care, so pay attention! What Happens During...
After a hot pizza and a couple of sugary sodas, the inside of your mouth can be a pretty unpleasant place, but even that kind of day is no match for periodontal disease. This insidious condition affects the gums and other tissues around your teeth. Left untreated, it can lead...
Pregnancy changes your body in so many ways. As your baby grows, you may notice some pretty serious changes in your mouth, especially. Along with your ever-growing baby bump, you may find that your teeth, gums and mouth become vulnerable to major dental problems. Leaving them to their own devices...
When you’re a dentist (or a dental patient), the word “bridge” can mean a lot of different things, but usually the first to come to mind is a structure containing replacement teeth to fill areas where real ones used to be. Bridges help keep your teeth in line, plus they...