The New Patient Complete Dental Examination
If your first visit to Growing Beautiful Smiles was for some purpose other than a New Patient Complete Dental Examination, then once that other bothersome issue is disposed of, a complete dental exam should become a priority.
Sometimes people ask us why this is necessary. Continue reading
Non-Surgical Gum Treatment
Before we get into non-surgical gum treatment, let’s clear up some vocabulary. We need to understand what gum disease is. We need to get an idea of what surgical treatment is about. Surgery is very commonly recommend by the mainstream.
The Vocabulary
We dentists and hygienists have really messed up communications in this area. Continue reading
False Teeth Still Need to Be Cleaned – Here’s How
Dentures (“false teeth”) need to be cleaned. They won’t decay, but they will acquire an unpleasant odour. An unpleasant odour is a good clue that there are unhealthy micro-organisms predominating.
In the Office
Using an ultrasonic stain/debris removal solution to remove debris from full and partial dentures, gives us a way to “scrub” their surface at a microscopic level. Continue reading
Ozone Therapy
One of the most important problems in dentistry is infection control. The oral cavity is like an ocean full of microorganisms normally living in balance with the entire body. Under certain conditions, pathogenic (“disease causing”) micro-organisms can become the dominant life forms, thus creating what is known as infection. These pathogenic microorganisms live together to form a biofilm made up of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa.
If we were to treat this condition with drugs, each of these “disease causing” types would likely need a different drug to eliminate its dominance. Continue reading
Oral Hygiene Instruction Dilemmas
by Bruna Mucaj, RRDH.
To an enormous extent, dental disease is preventable. But by far the most effective prevention is done by the teeth’s owners, (or the owner’s parents) – not by the dental profession and not by the government! We believe that of all the services we provide, Oral Hygiene Instruction is right up there with Nutritional Counselling as the most valuable. Alas, several factors conspire to frustrate our efforts. Continue reading
Cleaning Teeth
What patients call a “cleaning,” dental professionals call scaling and polishing. Instead of polishing we sometimes use the word “prophylaxis” which means “prevention.” As much as it thrills?us to use important sounding words like “prophylaxis” we often can’t be bothered with all those pesky syllables. So we just say “prophy.” Let’s settle for “polishing.”
What, Exactly, Are We Cleaning?
We are trying to eliminate some or all of three things:
- Stain
- Plaque
- Tartar (“calculus”)
Headaches, TMJ and the Bite
While the general population talks about “the bite” when referring to how the teeth fit together, dentists, for some reason, talk about “occlusion.” We’ll stick with “the bite.” When the public asks about “adjusting the bite,” dentists are thinking “occlusal equilibration.” I mention these terms in case you run across them while talking to insurance companies or wandering about the Internet. I’ll try never to mention them again. ?
The teeth of each jaw function in harmony with each other and with the jaw joints. The jaw joints are called the Temporo-MandibularJoints. Thankfully there is a short form for that – TMJ. Also performing as part of this harmonious “choir” are the muscles we call cheeks, lips and tongue (and many other muscles of the head and neck.) The choir director is the brain. When all is well, beautiful music results – speaking, chewing, swallowing , smiling, and even actual music – whistling and singing. Continue reading
Extractions (Tooth Removal)
Removing (“pulling,” “extracting”) a tooth is sort of dentistry’s ultimate failure. That is a common view when the goal of dentistry is considered to be “preserving teeth so that they last a lifetime.”
That sounds like a noble and worthwhile goal, but it’s not quite complete.