Intraoral Camera: See What Your Dentist Sees

I have heard people complain about the dentist in a way that makes a comparison to an auto mechanic: they can't see what is going on and they are afraid the dentist is just making up stuff to pad the bill.

Well, if your dentist has an intraoral camera, you can see just what is happening inside your mouth. The dentist can use it to show you problem areas in your mouth that you otherwise might not be able to see. The addition of this visual aid in the explanation of your diagnosis and treatment gives you added confidence in the dentist. You can also see before and after photos of the improvements in your mouth.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Your Dentist Can Treat TMD

Temporomandibular Disorder, or TMD, results from problems with the jaw and its surrounding muscles. TMD can have causes such as stress, injury, and grinding of the teeth (bruxism). Some of the symptoms of TMD (often also called TMJ) are unusual clicking or popping sounds when opening or closing the mouth, headaches, and ear pain when chewing.

A dentist can determine if you have TMD or not. If you do, the dentists can suggest treatment options. Some common treatments include stretching exercises, mouth protectors, or dental treatments that may fix an uneven bite.  

Your dentist can also give you tips about how to deal with your TMD issues in your daily life.

All Our Dentists Are Thoroughly Screened

I read a news story today about a dentist in New York who was arrested for practicing dentistry without a license - in his kitchen. Granted, the practicing in the kitchen part probably should have been a red flag in this situation, but perhaps some people are desperate and don't know where to turn.

At 1-800-DENTIST, our dentists are thoroughly screened before we allow them to join. We routinely monitor the licenses of our dentists to make sure they stay in good standing. If you'd like to find a dentist who has been screened and approved - and who won't treat you in the kitchen - call us today.

Can Bacteria Slide Off Your Teeth?

The accumulation of bacteria on your teeth causes the formation of plaque, which leads to tooth decay. We've talked about how proper brushing and flossing can reduce the amount of cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth.

Researchers at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York have studied a new tooth-polishing technology that may allow teeth to be too "slippery" for bad bacteria to build up on teeth. This allows the bacteria to be removed more easily.  The study findings were published in the October issue of the Journal of Dental Research.

New technology or not, you should visit the dentist regularly. Ask about slippery teeth...

Sensitivity to Cold

Where do you live?  Is it cold?  You only need to go outside or turn on The Weather Channel to see that snow and ice are visiting many of us. Does the cold bother your teeth?

Many people have tooth sensitivity to cold stimuli like breathing in cold air or drinking a cold beverage.  Tooth sensitivity can have a variety of causes, including brushing too hard, receding gums, or chipped or broken teeth. If you feel that zing, I'm sure you'll want to take action to try to prevent it from happening again.

There are things you can do to try to reduce your tooth sensitivity. You can use a soft-bristled toothbrush and toothpaste for sensitive teeth. You can also use toothpaste or a mouth rinse that contains fluoride.

Of course, the best first step is to see the dentist to discuss your sensitivity issues (for your teeth, anyway).

Why Is Dentistry So Expensive?

Many people are shocked by the cost of dentistry, especially if they need extensive work done. There are many reasons why it costs so much. First, dental school is expensive. The tuition alone for USC Dental School, for example, is $65,000 per year, and that's for three years. And before your first meal or your first book.

The dental office also requires much more equipment than the average medical office. X-ray machines, special chairs, a variety of handpieces, and then water, vacuum (for suction), electricity, computer cables and sometimes nitrous oxide all have to be set up for each room and each chair. The cabinetry is very involved, and then each dentist's office requires a lab and a sterilization area. And that's just a basic office. Many offices have a variety of new technologies to make your dental experience go better and faster and to improve the quality of the dentistry done.

But most of all, the goal of dentistry is to restore your mouth to its optimum level, which means straight, healthy teeth and gums. Dentists deal with a combination of both extremely soft tissue (gums) and the hardest bone in the body, tooth enamel. Imagine how challenging that is. And they need to be very precise in how they repair teeth, dealing in fractions of a millimeter, so that there will be no openings that allow the tooth to decay below the crown, for example.

Think of how much teeth have to endure. The jaw muscles are extremely powerful, and put tremendous pressure on the teeth from multiple angles. This means whatever a dentist does has to be stong and last a long time. There are few things in life that you could repair that would last twenty years or longer, but dentists do that kind of work every day.

Lastly, dentistry seems expensive because even if you have dental insurance, it doesn't really cover much most of the time. It's designed to cover basic care, and the insurance companies are very slow to add new treatments and procedures that they will cover, even if they are found to improve the patient's health. So many times the patient is the one making up the difference in cost in order to get the kind of dentistry that lasts.

And no matter what you'll be doing twenty years from now, I guarantee you'll be eating. And you'll no doubt want to do it with your own teeth. So if it seems expensive, think about the other things that you spend money on. Do they give you a twenty year value? Will you still be using them every day during those 20 years? So in the end, taking care of your teeth is an extremely good value. It may seem expensive, but for the use you get out of your teeth, and the lasting quality of good dentistry, it's probably more than worth the money. In, fact, I think it's one of the best investments you can make.

Dental Health and General Surgery

Occasionally we get calls to 1-800-DENTIST from people who are looking for a dentist because they need to get some other type of surgery. Very often if you need a hip replacement, or heart surgery, or many other types of surgery, even cosmetic, the surgeon will not begin surgery if you have some sort of dental infection.

The reason for this is simple: the surgeon knows that your body is already fighting an infection, meaning your immune system is already somewhat compromised, and surgery always poses a further risk of infection and always makes a greater demand on your immune system. The doctor simply wants you to be as healthy as possible and reduce the risk of complications.

This is just one more example of the connection between your overall health and your dental health.  It's unfortunate that health care creates a disconnect between your mouth and your body, and doesn't cover your teeth, but that's the reality. 

Too many people discover too late that the source of many of their health problems is what's going on with their teeth--they have gum disease, or an abscess, and this is affecting their health in ways they don't recognize.  What more proof would you need than a surgeon unwilling to operate on you?

Don't let it get this far, or anywhere near this.  Find a dentist you love, see him or her regularly, and stay truly healthy.