Anti-Aging Benefits of Keeping Your Natural Teeth
Posted on August 27, 2008 | Filed Under Teeth Tips
Want to know what happens to your teeth as you get older? They wear down, like tread on tires. Ever so gradually, the distance between your chin and nose diminishes until one day you realize that you’ve got lines around your mouth and you just, well …look older, but don’t really know why. That’s one reason to consider crowns or overlays on your back teeth – this procedures restores the lost vertical distance created by wear. It’s almost like having a facelift!
Look Ma’ No Cavities!
Posted on August 25, 2008 | Filed Under Dentistry, General, Health, St. Louis, Teeth Tips
For Boomers who grew up with this famous toothpaste commercial, I have a news flash: At your age, it’s no longer just about cavities!
If you’ve passed the age of forty, you really should have a mid-life diagnosis to evaluate the overall state of your oral health AND to plan a proper course of treatment that will enable you to keep your teeth for the remainder of your lifetime.
Patients over forty have often shortchanged their dental health or just barely maintained their teeth and gums. With the expense of family taking precedence through the previous two decades, Boomer-aged patients coming to me for the first time are often prepared to play catch-up with their own dental health.
Today you can plan a course of treatment that will ensure you’ve got your own teeth to chew with well into your senior years. In addition, nothing is more youthful than a natural-looking white smile. Unlike your parents, if you take care now you can have both.
Tags: aging, allergies, appearance, breath, brushing, cavities, cavity, dental care, dental health, dental treatment, dental work, Dentistry, dentists, dentures, extraction, fillings, gums, implants, insurance, oral health, overall health, pain, root canal, smile, teeth, tooth
What Can You Think of That 98% of Folks Agree is a Great Thing?
Posted on August 20, 2008 | Filed Under Teeth Tips
Not much. However, here are the results based on a study of 350 patients who had dental implants:
1. Knowing what you know now, would you have the treatment again? 98% said yes.
2. Was the treatment worth the investment? 98% said yes.
3. Was there a significant improvement in your ability to eat and chew? 97% said yes.
4. Was there a significant improvement in appearance? 98% said yes.
5. Was there a significant overall improvement? 96% said yes.
6. 98% said it was worth the investment.
7. 98% said they would choose treatment again knowing what they know now after treatment.
Want Whiter Teeth?
Posted on August 16, 2008 | Filed Under Teeth Tips
An estimated ten million Americans will spend 1.7 billion dollars on tooth whitening products and services this year. Tooth whitening is the most common cosmetic service provided by dentists, and there are also a growing number of over-the-counter tooth whitening products to choose from.
Patients often ask my opinion about the various treatments available to whiten teeth. My recommendation is to use bleaching trays with a product provided by your dentist.
Why not the faster methods? Simple. No one knows the long term effect on the nerves of your teeth when exposed to higher heat methods. My philosophy is “why risk damage to the teeth when the alternative can get you the same result with just a bit more time without the heat?”
Kids Going Back To School?
Posted on August 14, 2008 | Filed Under Teeth Tips
Pack a toothbrush with your kids and get them brushing after lunch each day. It will not only help reduce cavities, but it establishes a good dental care pattern for life that can save them from needing dental work up the road. Ideally, they would also floss every day at lunch. Big kids should heed this advice as well. You want to keep your gums healthy, and flossing as well as brushing every day after eating goes a long way to achieving this.
Living Without Teeth Is A Curse For Seniors
Posted on August 9, 2008 | Filed Under Health
One topic omitted from the anti-aging forum is the relationship of your teeth to how you look and feel every day. This area of medicine has long been excluded from discussions of longevity and wellness and categorized mostly as a cosmetic function, much like plastic surgery. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Every tooth impacts a different area of your body. Every extraction has an impact on your longevity.
Why do we neglect the role our mouths play in overall health? Why do we accept missing teeth and dentures as a “natural” course of aging?
My answer is the extreme lack of information on the subject. Look for my book coming out soon.
How Important Are Before and After Photos?
Posted on August 4, 2008 | Filed Under Dentistry
I read about ten different dental journals each month. Most disheartening is the importance put on the appearance of the patient’s teeth after treatment. To the untrained eye, the cosmetic makeover may look great. But a photo does not depict the entire story. In many cases that come to me after having cosmetic work, the structural integrity established by jaw position has been compromised and that new beautiful appearance is jeopardized every day by bad jaw function which may one day fail.
The Sedation Dentistry Debate
Posted on August 1, 2008 | Filed Under Dentistry
Back in the 70s, sedation dentistry was commonplace. When several deaths were reported, most doctors stopped using it and you didn’t hear about it for several decades. Thus, this “new” sedation dentistry is really not new at all. Personally, I don’t endorse it, as I have found ways to treat my patients with minimal pain. Plus, I don’t like the idea of knocking out a patient for several hours to do backlogged dental work. Sure, it’s great money for the dentist, but the slackness of the unconscious jaw makes it very difficult to ensure that the bite will be correct after the treatment. An incorrect bite can lead to headaches, neck aches, indigestion and other health problems.
