The reason why restorative and oral surgery procedures are often necessary is because, in most cases, damage to your teeth and oral structures is permanent. Sometimes, the effects of an issue can continue long after you’ve treated it. For instance, tooth loss can affect the health of your jawbone and remaining teeth even if you replace them with a dental bridge or denture. The loss of the roots, which once rested in your jawbone, can lead to a condition known as facial collapse, wherein your jawbone loses density and shrinks, causing the structures around your smile to “sink.” (more…)
Learning How to Cavity-Proof Your Smile
If you’ve ever had a cavity, you know the appeal of never having another one again. Hopefully, yours needed no more than a filling to cover the small hole caused by tooth decay, but many people require a root canal procedure or even tooth extraction. Tooth decay prevention is rather limited to brushing, flossing, and dental checkups and cleanings, and for the most part these measures suffice when adhered to diligently. However, we all slack in our daily hygiene routines now and then, and often that slacking leads us from prevention to repair. Yet, experts believe that dynamic may change with the discovery of a molecule that can drastically reduce the prevalence of tooth decay and cavities. (more…)
Why a Tooth Abscess Means Serious Trouble
A tooth abscess, or small pocket of infection, results when a tooth or other dental infection is allowed to become serious. It is also a common cause for some of the more severe forms of discomfort. Unlike many other causes of toothaches, however, dental pain is not the only problem that an abscess can generate. To help you understand the need for immediate treatment, we explore why a tooth abscess means serious trouble for your oral health, even beyond the infected tooth. (more…)
Understanding the Need for Jawbone Grafting
Your general dentist may be able to detect when something is off with your jawbone. For instance, if it’s crooked or malformed, it can affect your bite, which will also affect the health of your teeth. However, when your jawbone requires correction, surgery is typically needed, which requires the expertise of a skilled oral surgeon. To help you understand the process, and why it may be necessary to save your smile, we answer a few common questions about jawbone grafting, and the benefits you can expect afterwards. (more…)
Interesting Facts About the Tongue
Is your tongue a muscle, or an organ? As one of the major components of your oral cavity, the human tongue holds many mysteries—some simply interesting, and some that hold significant implications for your oral and overall health. Today, we examine a few fun facts about your tongue, including how it can warn you of oral health trouble. (more…)
Serious Oral Health Causes of Halitosis
When it doesn’t go away, bad breath can be more than just embarrassing—it can be worrisome. Sometimes, that worry is justified, especially if your halitosis (chronic bad breath) is a signal of a serious oral health issue. If brushing and flossing your teeth consistently doesn’t rid your mouth of bad breath, then you should schedule an examination with your dentist or dental specialist at your earliest convenience. (more…)
Fuel for a Stronger, Healthier Smile
Careful eating habits are vital to a healthy smile. Too much indulgence on sugar can almost guarantee cavity development, and too-frequent snacking on anything can be almost as bad. On the other hand, consuming enough of the right minerals and nutrients is necessary to keep your teeth and gums strong and healthy. Today, we explain a few of the things that can fuel your stronger, healthier smile that you should try to include more of in your diet. (more…)
When Extracting a Tooth Is Better Than Keeping It
Many patients don’t exactly welcome the news that one of their teeth has to be extracted. Even if the tooth hurts because it is severely damaged or infected, losing it can seem more devastating than dealing with it. As far as your dental health is concerned, however, the opposite may be true. In some cases, extracting a tooth is the only way to preserve the rest of your smile, especially when trying to save it could place other oral structures at risk of infection or damage. (more…)
How Smoking Destroys Your Oral Health
The dangers of smoking and tobacco use are no longer really debatable. Over the last few decades, numerous studies have uncovered the link between smoking and several chronic, potentially fatal health issues, including a variety of cancers. Your oral health also suffers from the habit, and not just your breath or the color of your teeth. Besides the physical effects of tobacco use (which are significant), smoking can also destroy your oral health no matter what precautions you take. (more…)
A Look at the Types of Dental Implants
It may surprise you to learn that the idea of dental implants dates back as far as 1,350 years ago. An excavated Mayan burial site in Honduras unearthed the remains of a woman believed to be in her twenties, with three shells placed where her lower incisor teeth should have been, and compact bone formation surrounding them. In modern times, dental implants have evolved into three different types, based on their placement on the jaw. They are designed to fuse with the jawbone in order to support a dental prosthesis, such as implant-supported bridges and dentures. (more…)
